


Kiss With a Fist

by DenDenSushi, Lyssala



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Character Death, Explicit Language, F/M, Sexual Content, Violence, against zombies more often than not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-04
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-02-16 02:27:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 81,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2252427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DenDenSushi/pseuds/DenDenSushi, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyssala/pseuds/Lyssala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's always a normal day at school when an Apocalypse decides to descend. One minute Eren is trying to pass his chemistry class & the next he's wielding a baseball bat against bodies trying to bite him. Along with Mikasa & Armin, they are forced into a world where all it takes is one bite & you're dead. (Modern Day Zombie AU; Rated for violence, language, & sexual situations)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Incident

**Author's Note:**

> In a sudden burst of ideas (aka watching too much of The Walking Dead), I’m actually starting an ongoing fic ^^ This particular fic is co-authored by myself and dendensushicosplay. I had the main plot and chapters thought out and asked if he would read over this chapter because he’s better at writing action than me and we decided to make it a joint effort. And hopefully he’ll keep on me so I update on time lol The title is from the song “A Kiss With a Fist” by Florence and the Machine :3
> 
> So I hope you all enjoy the first part, its kinda slow going I know but please let me know how you like it. I’ve never written anything like this before so I’d really, really appreciate any feedback (good, bad, constructive whatever you feel ^^) from you lovelies!
> 
> I'm uploading my ongoing fic here too! This one has significantly less chapters to upload haha but I do hope you enjoy this one! I absolutely love writing it :3

It was only 1 p.m. and the world had already gone to hell. Eren swung his bat, knocking one in the head sending it down to the ground in a heap.

He hadn’t been doing anything noteworthy when he realized something was wrong. He was walking to class, maybe looking for Mikasa and Armin.  A chill went down his spine, filling his stomach with dread. He pulled his arms back and let the wooden bat crack against a skull, sending the thing down a set of stairs. Armin was probably with Mikasa somewhere and there was no place safer. He couldn’t worry right now. Fingers brushed over his back causing Eren to swing his bat behind him, coming in contact with a groaning body. He wouldn’t have even believed it if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes.

The scream had been first. Eren had taken off for the sound only to see what he thought was a person hunched over a hysterical girl. It wasn’t until Eren shouted that the thing looked up at him, blood and God only knew what else dripping down its hollow face. Eren's stomach lurched;he had to resist the urge to throw up on the spot.

Eren bolted down the stairs when he saw an opening. Screams mixed with the sounds of the creatures moving through the halls filled his ears. People were still alive, running by him at top speed, but that didn’t stop hands from reaching out around every corner grabbing and biting whatever they could get. Eren used the handle of his bat to push one away that came out from a nearby hallway. He had to get out of these halls but there was no way he could leave Mikasa and Armin.

“Dammit,” he groaned, swinging his bat at another one coming at him.

He was lucky, some jock must have dropped the bat nearby where he saw that girl. He grabbed it and went after the thing over her; he had seen enough movies to know to aim for the head. The force the wooden bat hit with surprised even him. Eren watched the thing go down before turning to the girl laying on the ground.

She was already dead, Eren knew that much so he should have expected the way her body snapped back up, her arms lunging for him, but not even seeing it could prepare him. Eren raised the bat above his head before slamming it down on hers until she stopped moving.

He didn’t notice the blood splattered on his uniform until much later.

Now the school was crawling with them, every exit was a pile up of struggling students and hoards of those things grabbing anything they could reach. The screams and shouts only seemed to draw them closer, so Eren kept his voice down even though every part of him wanted to call out for his friends.

The hallway to the left seemed empty enough as he made a quick turn. His hands gripped onto the bat he held up, ready to hit anything he could see. Nothing was there so far, just a few empty classrooms, all with doors wide open. The students must have already evacuated, or rather ran for their lives.

A loud scream made Eren’s head snap back to the hallway he had just come from. A guy was pulling hopelessly on a girl who had gotten caught in the grasp of one of those things; their screams were only dragging more to surround them. Eren spun around to go help but it was far too late at this point; there was nothing that could save them now.

 He felt the strong, chilling grip on his shoulders. He frantically swung his arms, his bat going at anything he could hit. The force of his movements sent him out of the creature’s grip and into the classroom nearby. He landed on a desk, crashing into it and hitting the tile floor. Scrambling, Eren turned on the ground as he attempted to scurry away, hands still reaching for him.  He raised the bat to hit it in its head, but the face lurking underneath the dead eyes made him stop.

“Thomas?”

The thing made no acknowledgement as it kept moving towards him, but Eren knew that face. They had second period History together. Thomas. Thomas Wagner.

Eren’s back hit the wall of the room. He held his bat in front of him but he couldn’t will his body to move.

“It’s not him anymore. It’s not him.” Eren muttered the mantra as he gritted his teeth while the body that used to be Thomas kept moving forward at him. He had taken down dozens of these things and yet this was the first face he knew. His body was frozen.

It let out a noise and reached down for Eren.

“Move,” he tried to tell himself. He kicked his foot up into its stomach, knocking it back but it came right back for him. Eren braced himself, his hands grasping the bat as hard as he could. The creature made a noise as it halted in its tracks.

Eren saw a long blade slice through its neck, its head and body falling in two different directions. It wasn’t too much of a surprise to see Mikasa standing over him, her sword firmly in her hands.

“Go for the back of the necks,” she said in her usually calm voice.  “It avoids seeing the face.”

Even though he knew they were in immense danger, seeing her face and hearing her voice sent relief through his whole body. She was okay. A little blood splattered, but okay.

She held out a hand to him, helping him up to his feet. “We should go before we get cornered in here.”

Eren nodded, his grip tightening on his bat once more. He glanced over her shoulder. “Is Armin not with you?”

Something flashed across her face. Panic. “No, I figured he was with you.”

“Shit. We have to find him.” Eren rushed back out to the hallway, knowing Mikasa would follow.

More screams. More sickening groans. Where the hell could he be?

“Eren, we have to get out of here.” She had her eyes down a nearby hallway.

He turned to look at her. “No, Armin is-”

“Smart. He probably figured it out before anyone and got out. If we stay, we will die. This place is overrun.” She motioned him to follow.

Eren hesitated as she turned the corner, but he couldn’t leave her either, not when he just got her back. He followed, finding her by an exit door that led down to a stairwell.

“If he’s not outside, I’ll come back in and look for him.” She had her hand on the doorknob, her eyes meeting his.

“I think you mean _we’ll_ , _”_ he corrected. “If you think I’m letting you out of my sight again in this place, you’re crazy.” This was not the time for heroics. Not when one bite was all it took to lose everything. Eren saw Mikasa’s face change, soften a bit as she looked at him but a nearby scream changed that.

“That was closer,” she said, her face steeling up once more. “The stairwell might be overrun but there’s no way the normal exits are any safer. You go down first and I’ll follow backwards behind you, okay?”

Out of the corner of his eye he could see them slowly turning the corner at them.

“Eren.”

“Okay.” He looked back to her. Everything about this was crazy, but they’d have time to figure that out later. They had to get out first. Mikasa swung the door open and Eren went in, the door quietly closing behind them. The first flight seemed clear but he still held his bat up, ready to strike if needed. Eren could feel Mikasa’s back brush up against his every now and then as she walked backwards. He glanced over at her, her dark eyes focused on the stairs above them.

He wasn’t even sure he could properly express how thankful he was that her presence was back with him again. It was something normal. Something comforting.

They rounded the first corner. One more flight and the door outside would be right there. It was becoming increasingly clear they weren’t alone. Eren could see them around the corner of the stairs, at least five bodies shuffling towards them.

“We have to go.” Mikasa’s back was pressed against him; he could feel her body tensing up. Eren turned his head to see a hoard of them on the stairs above them. He had no idea where they came from but it didn’t matter. They had to move.

“Run,” Eren whispered through his teeth.

Mikasa turned around, sword in front of her as he began to take off down the stairs. He swung his bat when they got closer, knocking one down. He jumped over the body as the sounds of Mikasa’s sword cutting through flesh filled his ears. Another hit, another one down.

Eren could see the door, red exit sign shining. Mikasa took another one out next to him as he ran to get the door. He kicked the door wide open, feeling the warm summer air hit his face. He turned to make sure Mikasa was still behind him when he felt the hard grip of a hand grasp onto him. The ones behind them must have caught up already but the feeling was gone before he could make a move. The hand fell to the ground along with the body and the head. Mikasa grabbed onto his arm and pulled him out the door, slamming it shut behind them.

Neither of them needed to say a thing. They both started running as fast as their legs would take them to the front of the school. It was surprisingly quiet, nothing outside and the door seemed to stay shut keeping the ones inside for now at least. They were on the backside of the building, thankfully not the side with the track and fields. He didn’t even want to think about what that looked like right now. It was strange though, coming from such chaos to a place where the world looked normal again.

Eren reached his arm out to stop Mikasa when they reached the corner of the school that led to the front and to the parking lot. Running in there head first would be a death wish. Trying to keep his panting as quiet as he could, he peered around the corner.

It was swarmed. There were some cars speeding away from the school, but the way to the parking lot was filled with those things lurking. Some were distracted and huddled around people who didn’t make it out, but not enough distracted for them to sneak to a car and worst of all, Eren couldn’t see Armin’s blond head of hair anywhere.

“Any ideas?” he turned to Mikasa, whose eyes were also assessing the situation.

“We need to get to your car that way we can be safer moving and figure out a way back in for Armin. Running is dangerous but it's our only option.”

Eren nodded. He figured it was going to be that way. “Hey,” he nudged her with his shoulder. “We made it this far after all.”

“You wouldn’t have if I hadn’t been there.” Mikasa glanced over at him and he could see that small smile pulling at her lips.

Eren rolled his eyes. “Oh, my hero. Have any more bragging to do?”

Mikasa shot him a look, but couldn't hold back a light smile from his teasing.

“Ready?” he asked.

Mikasa nodded, holding her sword out. “Ready.”

Eren ran out into the main area of the school yard knowing Mikasa was right behind him; that seemed to get some unwanted attention. They had to move. He scanned the area as he ran, eyes skimming for a good escape route. His eyes locked onto the area by the fountain. If they could run by that and jump over the fence, they could as least get his car.

His car. He drove Mikasa to school this morning. She kept hitting him on the shoulder because he had slept through his alarm again and was making her late. Her smile while she was doing it told Eren she hadn’t been all that mad though. It seemed like years ago.

Mikasa’s hand grabbed onto the back of Eren’s jacket, halting him in the center of the school yard. Eren turned to ask her what the hell was going on, but he didn’t need to, he heard it. A loud, revving engine filled the air causing those things to just pour out of the school and completely block their route. Fuck. They were trapped, and clearly the creatures had caught wind of them as well.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the cause of the commotion. A blue SUV was barreling towards them, creatures flying in all directions as the car tore through them. Eren was one step from throwing himself at Mikasa to get her out of the way when the car skidded to a halt in front of them, momentarily blocking them.

“Well, it took you two long enough.”

The sound of the voice sent relief through Eren’s veins.

“Don’t just stare at me, get in already.” Armin gestured to the back seat doors.

Eren swung open the door closest to him and jumped in before quickly turning around and reaching his hand out to help pull Mikasa on. She grabbed onto his hand but was suddenly jerked back out of the car. Eren dove halfway out of the car, still grasping onto her as he saw the culprit. A few bastards had walked around the car, and one had its hand firmly holding onto Mikasa’s red scarf pulling her into the rest of the ones reaching for her.

Her face was red, choked gasps coming from her lips. Eren reached over her shoulder, grabbing onto the tail of the scarf taking the pressure off her throat. He quickly wrapped his other arm around her and threw his weight back backwards, wrenching the scarf out the thing’s hand and pulling Mikasa back in the car with them. Armin didn’t even bother to wait for them to shut the door, the sudden movement of the car shut it good enough.

Mikasa had landed on top of Eren, but with the way Armin was driving that would have happened anyway. A sharp turn nearly had them falling off the seat. Eren reached down to hold up Mikasa’s face. She was red and still breathing heavily but she looked okay. He ran his hands down her arms. No bites either.

“Be careful with that thing,” he muttered, gesturing to the red scarf that was always around her neck. “Clearly they aren’t as stupid as they look.”

She nodded as he helped her sit up before he glanced up at Armin’s eyes watching them in the review mirror. “Yes?”

“How was your day, kids?” he asked.

“I’ve had better.” Eren glanced out the review window, they were leaving the school in the distance, but he could still see the staggering masses of bodies moving around. “How did you get out? We were looking for you.” He turned back around, the familiar scenery of the ride home from school passing them by.

Armin had to maneuver through a sea of abandoned cars on the road; houses and buildings empty all around them. It looked like this might not have been a contained case.

“I knew something strange was going on. I was hearing strange whispers from people, seeing odd things. I must have been one of the first people who figured it out because by the time I got to my Grandpa’s car, it was a blood bath by the entrance.”

Eren could see bodies in the cars as they passed. It looked like some hoard had already gone through.

“I knew you two would make it out so I waited where I could see the exits better. Noise attracts them, as I’m sure you noticed, so since I was quiet and in a contained area they left me alone.”

“But what the hell are they?” Eren asked, Mikasa watching the both of them quietly.

Armin glanced in the mirror. “Do you want me to really say it?”

“God no, please don’t call them that.”

“We need to call them something. This is happening and we need a plan.”

“Biters,” Mikasa spoke up causing Eren and Armin to look at her. “What? They need a name if you don’t want to call them…you know. It just feels appropriate.”

“Biters, huh.” Armin turned down a side road that seemed a little clearer of cars. “Well, it makes sense. One bite is all it takes...from what I can tell, anyway.”

“What’s the plan then?” Eren said. “I know you already have one, Armin.”

“Well, I had to do something while you two took your sweet time.”

Eren kicked the driver’s seat chair.

“Okay, okay,” Armin rolled his eyes but there was a smile on his face.  Eren knew it wasn’t because of the situation, but they were together, they were safe for now. A little bit was right in the world again.

“I’m taking us home right now to make sure our families are still there. If they are, maybe they know more than us. If not…” Armin hesitated, his fingers tapping anxiously on the steering wheel. “I suggest we get supplies and go find them. We need to stay in numbers. The more eyes and hands we have the better.”

It seemed like a fine plan to Eren but judging by the way these houses on their street looked he suspected he wasn’t going to find his mom sitting at the table waiting for him. He had to swallow a lump in his throat.

“Your mom is more resourceful than any of us.” Mikasa’s voice made him jump. She always seemed to know what was on his mind. “I’m sure she’s fine.”

“I’m sure they’re all fine.” Armin put the car in park on their street, all three of their houses right in a row. Eren looked over at his house. He’d lived there all his life, Armin his neighbor since the day he was born. Mikasa moved in on the other side of his house when she was about nine and it had been the three of them from then on. It was still the three of them Eren had to remind himself.

“Okay, it doesn’t look like there are any Biters wandering around,” Armin said peering out over the steering wheel. “But be quiet. Mikasa, come over to Eren’s after you check in on your house. I’ll do the same.”

She nodded in response as Armin unlocked he doors. She opened her door, grabbed her sword that had fallen on the floor earlier, and slipped outside, Eren following her so only two doors needed to be shut. Baseball bat in hand he took off towards his front door as he lost sight of the others. The door was locked which was a good sign; he carefully pulled his keys out of his pocket and opened the familiar wooden door.

“Mom?” he called as the door shut behind him. “Dad?” He walked down the hallway that led to the kitchen, normally where is mom was when he got home from school. “Mom?” A little louder. “Dad?”

No answer, and no one in the kitchen. He was about to walk out to check the rest of the house but something on the fridge caught his eye; a folded piece of paper with his name on it. He took it off the magnet and opened it to see his mom’s familiar handwriting.

“Eren,” it read. “If you’re reading this than I’m sure you know what’s going on. Your father called me when he had his suspicions from the hospital and made sure I had plenty of time to leave for somewhere safe. I know Mikasa and Armin are with you, so be sure to let them know her parents and his grandfather are with me.

“I wanted desperately to come and get you kids at school but your father said it was already too late and that we needed to leave right away. He said that Armin and Mikasa would be safe as long as they were with you, so you keep them safe, you hear me? I want to see all three of your faces at your father’s research lab as soon as you can. I know it’s a ways away, but just be safe. Your father said to stay together at all times, travel while its light out, keep up provisions and just get here when you can.”

Her handwriting started to get rushed and sloppy.

“I love you, Eren. Be safe. Don’t worry about me. Mr. Ackerman is with us, he knows what to do in these kind of situations. Just worry about yourself and your friends, okay? Love, Mom.”

Eren wondered in anyone knew what to do in this situation, but everyone was safe. That’s all that mattered. He looked up from the note to see Armin and Mikasa standing in the doorway.

“They’re all safe. They’re with my mom.” He folded up the note and shoved it in his pocket. “We need to get to my dad’s research lab. That’s where they went.”

“That’s a few cities away; it’s at least five hours on a good day.” Armin crossed his arms as he leaned up against the wall.

“Longer since she said to not travel at night, and we shouldn’t take the highway and risk getting stuck.”

“Well, grab what you need and come load up the car at my house,” Mikasa said, starting to leave the room.

“Why your house?” Eren asked.

She turned with a small smile. “My dad's a cop. Wait till you see what he left us.”

Mikasa hadn’t been kidding. Both Eren and Armin looked wide eyed over the collection of weapons left on her bed. Eren had changed out of his uniform and into some normal clothing, packed a few things in his backpack, including some nonperishable food and the note for his mom before meeting Armin at Mikasa’s.

“I know your dad took us to the range when we were younger.” Armin picked up one of the large rifles. “But something tells me I’m gonna be worse at shooting this than the pistol.”

“The crossbow is yours, Armin.” Mikasa held up a small note between her fingers as she gestured to the weapon leaning up against the bed. “My dad’s orders. It’s quieter in case we need a weapon without firing off the gun and its more your style.”

Eren held up a gun similar to the one he remember shooting as a kid. “What’d your dad say about me?”

Mikasa was putting a smaller gun in the holster on her thigh, unable to keep a smile off her lips. She looked up at him before adjusting the sheath strapped on her back. “He said not to let Eren shoot himself on accident.”

He grunted as he pulled on a holster around his waist. “Yeah, very funny.”

“He said to take the handguns, you’re in better control of those.” She tossed him one off her bed.

Eren caught it, holding it in both his hands. What choice did they have at this point? It was life or death now. He slid one into a holster before grabbing the others off the bed too. Mikasa started loading everything else into a duffle bag, her own backpack slung over her shoulder.

“We still have hours of daylight so we should be okay traveling today.” Eren grabbed his bag from off the floor and his bat before heading out of the room, the others following behind him.

It was strange, leaving the house he had been in countless times armed with weapons and supplies for a trip on the road in Armin’s grandfather’s SUV. Eren held the door open for them as they walked back outside. The sun was still shining over them, the air warm and fresh. It wasn't exactly the weather one expected for an apocalypse.

Armin popped the hatchback and started loading his bags in. He gestured for them to hand over their bags as well. Eren tossed his bag but held onto his bat; he felt strangely comforted still holding it. Mikasa was the last to get her stuff in, laying the bag with their weapons on top. Armin carefully shut the door before looking over to them.

“Okay,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “I’ve got a map in the car so we can mark a good route. I’d say to use the GPS but when I tried to use my cellphone earlier there was no signal, so I’m assuming satellites and all that stuff that makes our life easier is out. We’ll just go as far as we can.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Eren opened the backseat door gesturing for Mikasa to get in while Armin took the front seat once more. He looked around his empty neighborhood and at his eerily quiet house. He could almost see Colonel Arlert sitting on his porch where he liked to read in the summer, Mrs. A digging in her garden as Mr. A was pulling in the driveway on his police bike. Eren’s mom would be at the door, yelling at Eren to not see how high he could throw his ball up on the house, Armin trying not to act excited at just how high the ball could get, and Mikasa standing with that scarf around her neck to hide her smile. It seemed like yesterday.

“Eren?”

He turned back to the car to see Mikasa watching him. “Yeah, I’m coming.” He jumped in the backseat and shut the door. Armin started to drive down the road before tossing a map at them.

“I can get us in the right direction but just highlight the best route you can.”

Mikasa grabbed the map from Eren’s hands but he went to reach for the map she now held out of his reach.

“And behave before I have to split you two up.” Armin glanced through the rearview mirror.

Eren shook his head as he sat back up letting Mikasa have the map. She started to unfold it on her lap; he looked at all the little lines, all the different ways they could go.

Yeah, the world had gone to hell. Yeah, everything they knew was over, but his family was still alive. The guns on his waist, on his back pressed up against his body as he sat; his bat leaning up against the car door. He fully intended on keeping it that way.


	2. The First Survivors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The First Survivors
> 
> Summery: After discovering what now roams their world, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin follow the letter left to them by Carla Jaeger, hoping to find some sort of safety. It starts off as planned, but these things never go the way you want them to.  
> Pairing: Eren/Mikasa  
> Rating: M (for violence, language, and eventual sexual situations)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dendensushicosplay and I are back with the next installment of the story! A little more action and a few new characters thrown into the mix. Eventually all the 104th and others will make an appearance but a little at a time. Still working on getting a basis for the characters and their relationships down cause I know I haven't given them much downtime, I do plan on that (and some eremika ;D ) in this chapter and the near future and I hope you enjoy this one for now! ^^

Eren held out the map in front of him. “Uh.” He peered out the passenger window trying to read street signs. “I think it’s a right up here.”

“You think?” Armin batted away the map that was drifting into his view of the road. “You’re a shitty navigator.”

Ere glanced in the backseat; Mikasa was still laying out on the seat, her chest rising and falling in a steady, rhythmic pattern. He had jumped into the front seat when he saw her starting to doze off, wanting to at least let her lay down. Sure they hadn’t been on the road all that long but he couldn’t blame her for being exhausted after everything that had gone one today. “Well, she’s still out cold so you’re stuck with me.”

Armin sighed as he made a right turn. “If you get us lost I might just feed you to a Biter myself.”

“This isn’t a joking matter.”

“I beg to differ. We have to joke about it; if not we’ll start to realize just how horrible the world has turned especially in quiet times like this. They won’t last long.”

Eren looked over at the blond, but his eyes were still on the road. While he agreed with Armin, at least laughing about the situation made it seem a little less life threatening, something else was rubbing him the wrong way. “What’s gotten into you? Not like you to be so argumentative.”

Armin gave him a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry. It’s just all this, it’s all so much. I’m just…” he paused, searching for the right word. “Nervous, you know?” Another apologetic smile crossed his lips as he looked over to Eren. “I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

Eren put the map down in his lap. “Don’t worry about it. There’s nothing that could have prepared us for _this_ no doubt we’ll all end up snapping on each other at some point. Well, except maybe Mikasa; nerves of steel that one has.”

“I would disagree with you there. I’m pretty sure theres things that could even push her off the edge,” Armin said, a different sort of smile on his face, but Eren paid no mind.

 It was just so surreal. Was this really their world now? Did all this really happen? He shook his head. No use to dwell on it when it clearly had happened. It had been a pretty quiet ride so far, granted very slowly what with the crowded streets and Armin not wanting to make too much noise. It had been an hour and they were barely out of their city.

He could see them outside his window every now and then. Sunlight didn’t seem to bother them but provided they didn’t have a reason to come out they didn’t really. Eren saw them in alleyways, wandering around; some were moving along the sidewalks, always a few at a time but they didn’t notice the SUV much.

“What do you think caused it?” Eren leaned his head against the window watching the buildings go by. “I doubt it was the undead rising from their graves to take revenge on the living.”

Armin chuckled. “No I don’t think that particular trope is right in this situation.” He paused for a moment causing Eren to look over; he could almost see the cogs turning in Armin’s head. “Well, we know it’s contagious; one bite seems to do the trick. If you don’t get completely eaten you turn into a Biter ready to spread more infection. From that I’d say it’s a virus of sorts, where it came from I have no idea though.”

“My dad might.” That seemed to get Armin’s attention as he looked over. “In the note, my mom said my dad warned her before things got bad. Maybe he knows or saw something at the hospital while he was working.”

Armin was quiet, his face distant telling Eren he was working something out in that head of his.

“What?” Eren asked, lifting his head off the glass; that look on Armin’s face was never a good one.

He shook his head in response. “Nothing. Let’s just hope he made it to the facility and he’ll have some answers.”

Eren opened his mouth to ask what Armin meant but any words were cut short by Eren almost falling into the dashboard as Armin slammed on the brakes. Eren reached back to make sure Mikasa didn’t fall off the seat as they skidded to a stop but she was already sitting up and alert, her eyes focused on outside the window. He slowly turned his head to see what she was staring at, what made Armin stop suddenly.

The sight made his stomach drop.

A herd of Biters were rushing across the road. They paid no mind to them; they seemed to be more focused on traveling down that side road.

“What the fuck,” Eren muttered watching them limp and drag themselves. A few bumped into the car as they tried to get around, jostling the SUV. Eren didn’t need an answer anymore once he heard the distinct crack of a gunshot. The Biters went crazy, moving faster, groaning, pouring out all around the SUV.

Armin threw the car in reverse, slamming on the gas. “We’re gonna get surrounded,” he said as Eren was pressed into the seat by the force of the car. There was a sickening crunch as the SUV shook but Armin didn’t stop. Unfortunately, running over the bastards got their attention. Biters came at the car as they moved; arms outstretched and mouths open wide. Armin slammed on the brakes before jerking the car forwards, tires skidding down a nearby road. The Biters were following, Eren could see them in the mirror, but the car was quickly outracing them.

“We need to find where that gunshot came from.” Mikasa was sitting up still, her body leaning in between the two front seats. “Clearly they’re in trouble if they fired off a shot near that horde.”

Eren wanted to tell her no, that we can’t save every person dumb enough to shoot a gun here but he knew himself and his friends better; if they had the power to help they would, it wasn’t much of a question. Though as they sped along the road a thought wouldn’t leave the back of his mind; there might come a time when he would have to sacrifice others to save his friends in this world.

“The gun shot didn’t seem too far away. If we could just follow the Biters…” Eren leaned over the dashboard to get a better look.

Another gun shot.

Armin turned the car down a side road, a residential road.

Another one; closer this time.

The tires skidded as Armin turned once more. “I know where we are. I have a funny feeling I know where those shots are coming from too.”

Another turn and Armin had to slam on his breaks. Thankfully Eren was getting used to that and braced himself before he fell out of his seat again. There they were, a horde of Biters; Armin got as close as he could but he still kept their distance.

The gunshot was so close Eren’s ears started ringing. There. He could see someone standing on top of a van in the center of the hoard, hands of the Biters reaching up as the person tried to get them away.

“We need to get them off the car and into a nearby house for safety.” Armin’s hands were gripping the steering wheel, his eyes focused on the scene in front of him.

Wait, them? Eren squinted towards the figure. He couldn’t tell who it was but there was a body laying on top of the van; he had no idea if they were dead or alive.

“No that won’t work.” Mikasa shook her head. “They’ll break down the doors. We need to get back to the van and get out of here. Armin, get on the roof and shoot down. Eren and I will get them out. Be ready to take off as soon as we start to come back.”

Without another word all three doors opened and Eren could hear Armin pulling himself up to the roof. The Biter’s weren’t paying much attention to them but that was going to change real soon. Mikasa tossed his bat at him while she met him on the other side of the van. He ran his fingers over the familiar wood in his hands, still blood stained from the school. She stood next to him, her sword unsheathed and out in front of her.

And that was it. He started to run towards the swarmed van, knowing Mikasa would be close behind. It wasn’t until Eren knocked the first one in the head the Biters noticed them. Suddenly they were a lot more interested.

Eren swung his bat at every head that came near him but it was barely getting them anywhere near the van. Every time one went down, two more showed up around him. He could see Mikasa close by, heads falling as quickly as she could move her arms.

Hands grabbed at his clothing, pulling him forwards but Eren sent another hit, knocking it down. It was when hands grabbed behind him that he knew he had a problem. He tried to swing his body around, his bat behind his head to get a hit at the Biter, but it fell to the ground before he could, an arrow in its head.

With a grin, Eren turned back towards the swarm at hand; Armin had clearly gotten better with his aim since they were kids. The horde wasn’t getting any thinner though, it was only surrounding them.

“Shit. Shit,” he mumbled to himself as he knocked another one to the ground. This had been a mistake. What had they been thinking? Just cause they got lucky once they could just tear down hordes of Biters?

He felt Mikasa’s back press up against him, her head brushing against his own. At least she was still with him.

“We’re gonna get surrounded no matter what.” Eren kicked one in the stomach to get it far enough away from him before swinging his bat at its head. “Just try and move towards the van.”

She started to move away but still stayed close to him; Eren could feel her movements behind his back. A few arrows whizzed by generally hitting something from what Eren could tell but not nearly enough. Fuck. This still wasn’t working. Eren reached behind his back, grabbing a gun and pulling it out in front of him. He tried to remember what Mr. A had taught him but this wasn’t really a time for a walk down memory lane.

“Mikasa, get my back,” he shouted before turning towards the van.

Safety off. Aim. Shoot.

The recoil shot through his arm almost making him drop the gun. He didn’t get any by the van in the head. In fact he only succeeded in pissing off the ones by the van so not they wanted to come after him. Eren aimed again firing off another shot. A Biter who had been reaching up to the van dropped down. He hit his bat against the head of one who was getting too close to him before he aimed again. He couldn’t see Mikasa but since he wasn’t getting attacked he figured she was okay.

Another shot; this time in the back. A little higher and another one down.

Eren heard a gunshot that wasn’t from him. It had to have been whoever was on the van but he had other things to worry about. He fired off another shot.

“Hurry and jump down!” he yelled before trying to clear out the small area with his bat so they had a place to land. A few fell around him courtesy of Armin. Eren turned his head around to see Mikasa’s black hair whipping around as she started to pave a path back out.

“Aren’t you my hero.”

The voice startled him; it wasn’t one he was expecting to hear, but one he knew all too well. Eren’s head snapped to the top of the van for the first time since he got closer. “You’ve got to be fucking shitting me. We were saving you?”

Jean had the courtesy of flipping Eren off before reaching down to heave the body of the other person over his shoulder. Eren caught a glimpse of black hair; it really could only be one person, Marco.

Eren held up his bat again hitting one that got too close across the face. “If I had known it was you I would’ve made them keep going.”

Jean’s feet hit the ground but it wasn’t very well timed on his part. A sharp swing and Eren took out the one diving towards the now unarmed Jean.

“Well, it’s not like your fucking face is the last thing I want to see before I die.”

A head flew across the area, smashing into a Biter over Eren’s shoulder. He glanced over at Mikasa who was kicking a now headless body to the ground.

“Can you two stop bickering for a moment.” She swung her sword at a Biter lunging for her. “And run.”

Eren didn’t need to be told twice. “Stay between me and Mikasa.” He shoved Jean forward after the girl who had already started paving a path.

He put his gun back in the holster and tightened his grip on the bat’s handle before running after Jean and Mikasa. Anything that moved towards them he swung at; heads, hands, shoulders, legs, whatever. He hit the bat down at a set of hands reaching for Marco’s body before knocking it in the head. All the gun shots must have brought more of them because no path they made stayed clear for more than a few seconds. He couldn’t even see the SVU they had left.

“Armin!” Mikasa shouted ahead of him. Her voice wasn’t pained or worried, it was a warning to get ready. They were close now.

Another Biter trying to get Jean went down when Eren swung at it. There was the top of the blue car, sliding in front of Mikasa. The back door was already opened for them and Eren shoved his body at Jeans to get them in and Eren clambered in practically on top of the others. Hands reached in after them but Eren slammed the door as Armin took off down the road.

“Take a left up here,” Jean wheezed, not bothering to sit up as Armin swiftly turned the car. “And a right at the end of the street. My Aunt’s house might be safe.”

Eren twisted his body to look out the window behind them. The Biters were following but were getting out driven quickly.

Mikasa spun around in the passenger seat. “Is everyone okay?”

Still panting, Eren gave her a thumbs up. Jean was pulling himself up into the seat, Marco’s body crumpled up by the door.

“Is he okay?” Armin didn’t glance behind, his eyes firmly on the road.

“Yeah,” Jean breathed, trying to help Marco sit up. “He fell when we were running and hit his head pretty bad. Knocked him right out.”

“We can take a look if your aunt’s house looks secure enough. It’s gonna get dark soon anyway. We shouldn’t be on the road.” Armin slowed the car down as he took the right Jean pointed out.

Eren had his head leaned against the headrest. Clearly they needed to stay away from high residential areas. He glanced out the window; no Biters were following them and none seemed to be lingering around. There all probably were drawn over to where they had cause the commotion.

“It’s the blue one right here.” Jean pointed to a house nearby, one without a car in the driveway, like most the houses they passed. Armin carefully turned in and turned off the car. He looked back at everyone. “We should stay here if we can, get some sleep and try and relax as much as we can.”

“What then? What the hell are we supposed to do now? Did you see those things?” Jean didn’t look particularly thrilled; his adrenaline must have been wearing off as realization set in.

Armin hesitated as his eyes flickered to the house

“We’ll talk about it when we’re inside and we know everyone is alright okay?” Eren turned to open his door, hearing the others do the same. He slung his bat over his shoulder before reaching out to place a hand on Armin’s shoulder while Mikasa helped Jean get Marco out of the car. Armin didn’t look up, just kept staring a head, his crossbow in his hands.

“You did good out there, you know. You can join Mikasa in people who have saved my ass in one day.” Eren could hear Armin snort in laughter and that was good enough for him.

“She keeps a key under the plant on the steps,” Jean grunted but kept his voice low. Armin hurried to find it with Jean following as Eren filed in line; Mikasa was off to his side but he could feel her eyes on him.

“I’m fine, Mikasa. I don’t feel the sudden urge to eat any of you. Well, knock Jean upside the head maybe.”

She didn’t say anything in response but Eren still looked over at her. She was watching Armin slowly open the door, crossbow up and ready; she didn’t have any blood or cuts anywhere either, at least that he could see.

Armin popped his head back out. “Seems all clear. We should do a better check though.”

Eren followed Jean through the front door into the small house. It seemed pretty peaceful but that meant nothing these days. Jean placed Marco on the couch and Eren could see the nasty wound on his forehead.

“Hey, Eren?”

He turned around to see Armin behind him, his bow turned downwards.

“Would you mind checking the rest of the house?”

It was then Eren noticed the way the weapon was shaking in Armin’s unsteady hands. “Yeah of course. Go help Jean and start figuring out our plan.”

He nodded before heading into the living room.

“You too,” Eren gestured to Mikasa who was still standing next to him. “I’m pretty sure I can handle it.”

She hesitated, like she wanted to say something but she followed after Armin.

Eren turned to head up the stairs, his bat outstretched in front of him. Their talking probably would have brought out any Biters hiding but he had to be sure in case. He carefully opened each door. Bathroom, safe. Closet, safe. Bedroom, safe. Other closet, safe. Second bedroom, safe. It looked like they lucked out though Eren knew that luck wasn’t gonna last very long at all. He walked back down the stairs and into the living room.

Armin was wrapping Marco’s head while Jean sat on the floor watching. Mikasa was sitting in an armchair nearby, her eyes glancing at him when he came in.

“All safe upstairs.” He sat down in one of the chairs. He nearly groaned aloud at the sudden comfort of his body; he didn’t even notice how much his body was aching until he stopped running.

“Good, we can stay the night here then.” Armin stood up from his spot, Marco looking well bandaged though still unconscious.

“Why only the night? If it’s safe we should stay put until this is all over?”

Clearly, Jean hadn’t seen enough horror movies. “We’re going to my dad’s research lab, that’s where our parents are.” Eren stretched his arms over his head. “Besides, just cause this place is safe now doesn’t mean it will tomorrow. And unless your aunt had a thing for conspiracy theories I doubt there’s enough supplies to last God knows how long this is gonna go on for.”

Jean scowled but didn’t say anything else.

“Erens right.” Armin moved to sit by Marco’s legs. “We need to keep moving and get to safety. You two are more than welcome to come with us.”

 “I wouldn’t say that,” Eren grunted. A car ride stuck with Jean in the backseat sounded less appealing than having a Biter rip his guts out.

“We can’t just leave them here. It will at least be safe at the lab,” Mikasa said causing Eren to glare over. And of course Jean got that smug ass look on his face.

“Traitor,” he mouthed to her.

She rolled her eyes but he could see a smile pulling at her lips.

Jean opened his mouth, probably to make some snarky comment like normal but Armin cut him off. “How did you make it out of the school?”

Jean shrugged. “We ran and just kept running. All those bastards-”

“Biters,” Eren interjected.

“Whatever. Seemed more interested in getting in the school than too many chasing us. We made it to our neighborhood without too much trouble and found my mom frantically shoving stuff in the car, my dad helping. I told them to stop and just go; we had seen Biters coming this way not to mention the ones that followed us. But it was too late we were surrounded.” He paused and rubbed his temples with his hands. “They got my mom first. My dad tossed me his gun before trying to help her but it was useless.” He paused again, his hands looking down at his hands. “Marco dragged me away so when he fell I dragged him on top of the van and tried not to die.”

Eren felt the guilt in his stomach. He had to remember they had been relatively lucky, not everyone had that relief.

“Jean, I’m so sor-” Armin started to say but Jean helped his hand up to stop him.

“It’s fine. We’re alive.” He looked up from staring at the ground and sighed. “What about you guys? We had gym so it was easy to run; you were in school when it happened.”

“Armin was once again smarter than all of us and got out before it got bad.” Eren said. “And I just got lucky the Captain of the Martial Arts Club came to find me.”

“And saved you.”

“And apparently gave her a big ego.”

Jean nodded but his brow furrowed. “So what’s this about a lab then?”

Armin moved like he was going to explain but a gasp from Marco cut him off.

“Hey, look whose awake.” Eren leaned forward in his chair, watching the dark haired boy whose eyes were fluttering open.

Marco groaned, his hands reaching over his face.

“How are you feeling?” Armin asked, looking over at his head to make sure the bandage was holding on.

“Like I got hit by a car.” His hands fell to his sides, eyes blinking as his surroundings started to set in on him. “Where am I?” He tried to sit up but seemed to get dizzy. Jean reached his hands up to help him not fall over.

“Jesus, Jean,” Marco groaned again as Jean helped him sit up, Jean taking a seat on the couch. “I had the weirdest dream.”

Eren leaned back in his seat as Marco carefully looked at everyone in the room. Jean placed a hand on his shoulder as realization hit Marco’s face. Armin met Eren’s eyes, and he could see Mikasa out of the corner of his eyes looking over at them as well. If only it was a dream.


	3. The Bite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Bite
> 
> Summary: After a night not so restful night, they set off, with their new companions, on the road to the lab. Of course, a lot of planning has to go into an apocalypse including gathering as many supplies as they can.  
> Pairing: Eren/Mikasa  
> Rating: M (for violence and language)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dendensushicosplay finished up going over everything one last time and here's the chapter I wrote mostly at work one day when I finished our project two hours before anyone else haha. I actually like this chapter a lot, so I hope you guys do as well! I took advantage of some of the down time to hopefully give some character backgrounds in this universe (and some early eremika :3).

Hands were everywhere. They were grabbing at Eren, pulling him, shoving him, cutting into his skin. He couldn’t even move. He couldn’t see any faces or even bodies, just the hands. There was a cry nearby that sent chills to his very core. He frantically tried to look but the sky was so dark how could he see anything?

He tried to call out Mikasa’s name but his throat was dry, his voice long gone. He heard her cry out in the darkness again but he couldn’t move, the cold hands held him firmly in place. He couldn’t go to her, couldn't help her. He felt his stomach drop, bile rising to his throat. Eren tried to call for Armin, but it was no use. Deep down he knew Armin was gone too. There was no one anymore.

The darkness seemed to part for a moment, causing Eren to see a body tossed on the floor in front of him. His heart clenched. He knew that long brown hair, the broken body underneath the simple dress. He hadn’t gotten to his mom in time either.

The hands started to pull him away, Eren struggling in their grasp. He could feel the warm, stale breath of mouths all around him. The hands tightened on him and he could feel the dozens of groaning mouths get closer to his skin.

Eren’s eyes opened as his body snapped up in bed. His eyes were wide as he tried to catch his breath and frantically look at his surroundings; his heart was racing and he could feel the thin layer of sweat coating his body. The room was dark and unfamiliar, but the blond head of hair sleeping soundly on the other side of the bed was very familiar. It was just a dream. Armin was okay which meant Mikasa was okay too.

He threw his legs over the edge of the bed and quietly exited the guest room that had been left to him, Mikasa, and Armin. He carefully shut the door behind him and headed over to the stairs. Jean hadn’t been a fan of letting them all stay in the same room but before Eren could tell him how ridiculous he was being, that they had shared rooms since they were kids, Mikasa stepped in and said she’d take first watch. Jean scowled like normal but didn’t argue anymore which satisfied Eren enough.

The lights were all off, in case that kinda stuff drew Biters in, but the clock ticking on the wall as Eren walked down the stairs told him it was about 3am. He rubbed his eyes as he hit the last stairs, but the moment his eyes were closed all he could see were Biters coming at him. So that’s how sleeping was gonna be now, huh.

He turned the corner to where the living room was and could already see Mikasa’s dark hair, her eyes staring out the window as a rifle laid across her lap. A knot in his stomach relaxed when he saw her there.

Her head turned to look at him as he walked into the small living room.  “Eren? What are you doing up?”

He plopped down on the couch, where she was leaning up against from her spot on the floor, his legs tossed up on the cushions as his back hit the armrest.  “Armin’s snoring again.”

“It’s not Armin who snores, it’s you.”

Eren could see her turning he head to look at him, about to give him that all knowing look she had, but he nudged her in the back with his leg before she could. “How’s it looking out there?”

“Not much activity from what I can tell.” Mikasa’s head rolled back onto the couch, bumping into Eren’s thigh. “I saw a few Biters walk by every now and then but it seems as long they don’t know we’re here, they don’t see us.”

“So sound draws their attention.” Eren reached up to rub his eyes again. He was exhausted and just wanted to go back to sleep he wasn’t ready to live through that again just yet.

Mikasa nodded, her head still leaning against him. “Seems like it. Probably a mix of sight and smell too. Clearly they can see and I can imagine that we smell different from them.”

“Well, the most of us, though it’s good to know they won’t attack Jean.”

Mikasa reached behind her head to hit Eren wherever she could. Unsurprisingly, she got him right in the gut.

“Okay okay,” he grunted, swatting her hand away.  She settled back down in front of him and he placed his hands behind his head. A silence settled down over them, one Eren was familiar with when it came to Mikasa. Despite the hell he knew was raging outside, this was almost peaceful; just a brief moment of it. Tomorrow it would be back to running though hopefully they wouldn’t have to face a horde like they did today, but who even knew what the day or the next days were about to bring. Eren ran his fingers through his hair. All they could do now was just fight.

He could see Mikasa’s head starting to fall to her chest before snapping back up. He waited a moment before she did it again, and nudged her head with his knee. “Alright, we’re switching out.” He pushed himself up and reached for the gun in her lap but she held it just out of his reach. “Go up to bed.”

“I’m fine. You go back to sleep, clearly you weren’t sleeping well to begin with.”

Eren should have assumed he didn’t need to tell her why he was awake for her to know. “Well, I’m awake now and you’re falling asleep so you’re getting booted. Go on.” He leaned down and plucked the gun from her hands, proving that she was in fact tired since Mikasa had the best reflexes he knew. He nudged her again with his feet. “Armin’s still out cold I’m sure, so you don’t need to worry about waking him up.”

She swatted at his feet but still pushed herself up to her feet and headed towards the staircase.  Eren leaned up against the back of the couch his eyes looking towards the window when he noticed she wasn’t moving. He glanced over to tell her to just get her ass in bed already but he caught her eyes, and he knew that look. Eren wasn’t the one who had problems sleeping; that was Mikasa since he knew her.

“Alright,” he gestured for her to come over.

Mikasa walked back before she curled her body up on the opposite side of the couch, her feet just brushing by Eren’s legs. “Goodnight,” she yawned, her eyes fluttering closed.

“Night.” Eren held onto the gun as he watched the window closely. She had been right not much movement outside, barely any walkers that he could see. It was pretty dark out, but Eren couldn’t even pick out motions. God, Mikasa must have been so bored. He looked over at her, her chest falling and rising, her feet already pushing their way into his lap. He rolled his eyes but didn’t move her; she looked like she had already fallen asleep.

He wasn’t all that surprised; she always fell asleep when he was around her. Her knocks on his window in the middle of the night, and her late night calls when she couldn’t sleep were common on any night they weren’t together. Especially as they got older and her parents decided co-ed sleepovers weren’t age appropriate anymore; though Eren’s mom never got mad when she’d wake him up for school only to find Mikasa curled in his bed. He knew she had nightmares still even though it had almost been seven years since the night he found her shivering and terrified in park, and for whatever reason she could sleep easier around him.

Eren never really understood what drove his nine year old self to run off from his dad on the sidewalk and take off into the large and rather dark park except that he heard a girl’s cry. Even at nine it was enough to send chills down his spine, he had to help her, there wasn’t another option. Mikasa was a lot smaller back then, she was so frail as she tried to squirm away from the two men who had surrounded her; one was looming over her, and the other had her hands pinned to her back, his hand over her mouth to muffle her cries. Eren would never forget what they looked like, or the rage he felt surging through his body as he ran at them.

Obviously Eren would have never managed to take them down, they were twice his size, but a boy running and shouting at them and his father chasing behind him must have scared them off enough for them to run. He fell down to his knees next to Mikasa, a girl he had never even seen before and held her while she cried, while his dad called the police. She was shivering and terrified but she just held onto him. Eren always rolled his eyes when he thought of his younger self thinking Mikasa was shivering because she was cold so he gave her his red scarf, the one she never took off again.

He glanced over at Mikasa, still sleeping soundly, her cheek pressed against her arm and her scarf poking out from under her short hair. His dad had yelled at him at putting his life in danger like that but Eren didn’t care then and he still didn’t. He might not ever admit it to anyone but himself, but he had gotten so used to her warm presence near him, the one that always seemed to calm him down.

Eren reached up and tugged the throw blanket that was tossed over the back of the couch; he draped it over her body before going back to looking out the window. So this was how it was gonna be now; sleepless days and sleepless nights. Eren held the gun in one hand, the other resting on Mikasa’s legs. But if that’s what it took to survive that’s how it would be.

That’s how he intended it to be at least, but by the time he felt a hand on his shoulder shaking him, Eren realized he wasn’t much of a night watch himself. He was aware of the hand on his shoulder, his name being called softly; his body was against something warm, something soft. He blinked against the sunlight shining through the window as he lifted his head up. Armin was kneeling in front of the couch, his face looking amused.

“Good morning, sunshine.”

Eren blinked as he looked around, his mind slowly waking up. The gun wasn’t in his hand anymore, it had been discarded sometime in the night; one arm was tucked underneath him, his back to the couch, and the other was draped around Mikasa who was just stirring awake as well.

“Sleep well?”

Eren sat up trying to untangle his legs from the blanket Mikasa was still under. It was far from the first time Armin woke them up, though he was thankful it was Armin; Eren didn’t think he could deal with Jean’s annoying voice first thing in the morning.

“Sleep well, yes, watch well, apparently not,” he yawned stretching his arms over his head.

“It’s okay, no one gotten eaten so I won’t tell. Since you are so nicely rested we can get an early start. I already brought your stuff down from upstairs.”

Eren waved Armin off and that ridiculous grin of his but Eren realized he didn’t have any more nightmares for the rest night. “So what’s the plan then?” he asked leaning up against the couch.

“Shouldn’t you wait for your whole team, you ass,” Jean grunted as he stepped into the room from the staircase, Marco behind him, and both with bags on their backs. Guess they decided to stay put, how wonderful. Eren rolled his eyes at Jean but didn’t respond; it really wasn’t worth it.

“Well,” Armin started, looking around to make sure Eren was going to be quiet. “We should just load up and go. We might want to stop and fill up containers of gas, maybe see if we can get some more medical supplies but other than that we need to just drive to safety.”

“Wait.” Marco still had a bandage around his head, his forehead scrunched together underneath it. “You mean like stealing?”

“It’s not stealing if there’s no one alive to pay,” Eren’s shrugged, turning his head to look out the window. It’s not like he enjoyed the idea of going into stores and just taking what they wanted but what choice did they have now? “It looks pretty clear out; we should take advantage of that and get out.”

“Grab what you need then.” Armin picked up his crossbow, the keys to the SUV in his hand. “The sooner we get there the better.”

Mikasa reached down to the gun Eren had dropped sometime last night and tossed it over to Jean. “Do you know how to use it?”

He looked down at the large weapon now in his hands and Eren was inclined to think no.

“I’ll manage,” Jean answered.

Eren pushed himself up to his feet but not before grabbing his bat from off the floor and followed Armin out the door. The warm morning hit him the moment they stepped outside; the air was fresh and clear, the neighborhood quiet. It would have seemed like a normal day, but the lack of birds singing, of the hum of electricity, the rumbling of car engines, of people was more eerie than calming.

Armin opened the driver’s side door, taking his spot behind the wheel. Eren went to the walk to the passenger side door but Armin stopped him. “Someone who can maybe read a map please?”

“Really, Armin?” Eren arched an eyebrow. “You’re gonna make me cram in the back?”

“I’m sorry, we don’t have time to get lost.” His voice was apologetic but his eyes had amusement in them. Oh, he was going to pay for this one.

“I’ll do it,” Marco said, coming up behind Eren. “I’m pretty good with maps.”

That left Eren, Mikasa, and …Jean in the back. Oh, Armin was so going to pay for this. Eren stepped out of the way so Marco could get in and moved to open the backseat door only to see Jean already sitting on the other side, looking too smug for Eren’s liking. He opened the door but stepped back.

“If you think I’m sitting between you and him you’re insane.” Mikasa was standing next to him, her arms crossed over her chest.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.” Her face was firm, unrelenting; it would be useless to even try.

 “Neither of you are allowed to say a thing if I push him out the door.” Eren stepped in the car and slid himself in the center seat, at least that smug look was wiped off Jean’s face. Mikasa took her seat next to Eren and shut the door.

Armin looked in the rearview mirror as he started to back out the driveway. “Now I know how your parents felt when they took us on long drives.”

“Just go straight down this road and take a left,” Marco said as he held the map up, his eyes following the route. “We should be able to stop in the next town over for gas and supplies.”

Armin nodded in response to his new navigator but his eyes were already on the road.

Eren turned to Mikasa, because it was much better sight than turning towards Jean; her eyes were already looking out the window though. A few slow moving Biters could easily be seen shuffling around in a yard as they drove by and it sent a cold shiver down Eren’s spine. Yeah, he had fought off a shit ton of them yesterday, but seeing them walking around first thing in the morning gave him a harsh reminder of what their world had become. He gripped his hands around the bat in between his legs.

Eren leaned back in his seat, his eyes looking out the windshield. From what he could tell the road was pretty clear, but Armin was still taking it slow. Eren flopped his head over to look out Mikasa’s window. Biters were still around but not nearly as much as he expected, not nearly as much as he knew were out there. “I wonder why there’s so few of them around. After what we’ve seen I would expect them to be everywhere.”

“Maybe it has something to do with the noise,” Marco said, though his eyes looked like they hadn’t moved from the map at all. “It’s possible some other large commotion drew them out like we drew them in.”

Eren snorted. “That was just because someone was dumb enough to fire off a gun in the first place.”

“It’s not like we had a choice. We were going to die.” Jean’s tone was practically showing the scowl on his lips.

“You could’ve been smarter about it that’s all I was saying.”

“If I recall, you completely missed the first time you fired that gun.”

Eren had started out just wanting to irritate Jean but Eren could feel his jaw clenching as he looked over. “I’m sorry I was too busy knocking the heads of Biters with a Goddamn bat trying to save your life.”

“Well, maybe you should-”

“Jesus,” Armin said much louder than anyone expected. “Can you two pretend to get along so I don’t turn this car around, because I will.”

Marco clasped a hand over his mouth as he tried to hide his laughter. “Turn left at the stoplight.”

Eren gritted his teeth but he looked back out the windshield. They were gonna need another car or someone was getting tossed; his dad’s lab never seemed as far away as it did right now. His head rolled back against the seat, his eyes staring at the ceiling. Eren supposed he shouldn’t be so petty, so argumentative; they were lucky to be alive, Jean and Marco even more so. Their lives were so shaken now, so out of place that maybe Eren just wanted some kind of normality in their lives again.

Armin and Marco were talking about something in the front, while Jean and Mikasa sat in silence on either side of Eren. He hoped aside from the short pit stop they were making they could just go all the way to the lab unhindered. Once they were there they’d get some answers; his dad had to know something, there had to be something that they could do and he wanted to make sure their parents were okay. He couldn’t help but glance over at Jean who had already lost his. They were more than a little lucky their parents got out when they did; Eren could only hope they made it there okay.

“There’s a gas station over there,” Mikasa said, knocking Eren from his thoughts.

He pulled his head up to see the oncoming and very deserted gas station.

“That’s a good one,” Marco said. “If I remember right there’s a drug store up the street too we can stop by.”

Armin pulled the SUV into the empty area, pulling up to one of the pumps. Jean was the first one out of the car, his gun in his hand as Eren followed Mikasa out of her side. He held his bat over his shoulder as he squinted against the sun. It really hadn’t been that long since they got in the car, but this might be the last time they got out until they hit the lab.

“Marco, come help me get some gas cans while Armin fills up the tank,” Jean nodded towards the gas station store.

Two was more than enough for one building and Eren already had enough close quarters with Jean to look forward to. “I think I’ll check out the drugstore while you guys work here.”

“Fire off two shots close together if you get in trouble. I know it will probably draw more out, but I’d rather know we can come and help you if you get surprised.” Armin was already pumping gas into the car, his eyes drifting to the gas station to make sure they were okay too.

Firing off a gun wasn’t going to do anyone any help, but he did understand what Armin was trying to say. “Alright,” Eren said with a nod. “You guys come and get me if you hit trouble here.”

“Okay, don’t take too long if you can.”

It was so quiet along the road, it was hard to get used to this level of silence. Still, he could hear Jean and Marco vaguely from where he was, and he could hear the footsteps on the pavement behind him.

“Mikasa, go back, I’ll be fine.”

“You shouldn’t go off alone, no one should.”

He turned his head to look at her; she was close behind him, her arms waving slightly at her sides, that usual determined look on her face.

“I’ll be fine, I’m pretty sure I can get some band aids without getting killed.”

Mikasa hesitated, looking behind her before looking back to him. “I’m a better fighter than you. Let me help.”

While Eren hadn’t been irritated before, he felt his jaw clenching down at her words; leave it to Mikasa it to make him feel like a child. “I’m pretty sure I’ve killed just as many Biters as you, so back off a little, alright? There isn’t even a damn hoard around us. I’m fine, just trust me for once. Jesus.” He turned back away from her, starting down the road again, his hands clutching his bat. He didn’t look behind him, but he didn’t hear her following anymore.

Almost instantaneously Eren felt guilty for snapping at her. He was just angry; he didn’t need someone telling him he needed help all the time, that he wasn’t capable of doing something on his own. He didn’t need her always looking after him; he’d look after her by just doing his task. He could handle a few Biters if they were hiding, he’d handled much more in just less than 24 hours.

He still couldn’t help but look back as he walked and he could see her retreating back at the gas station. Eren knew he hurt her feelings, which didn’t help that sinking feeling in his stomach go away, but he’d apologize later.  For now he just wanted to get supplies, and get back.

The drugstore was where Marco said it would be, just up the road. There weren’t any Biters outside the building or lingering in the parking lot so that was a good sign, but it didn’t mean it was safe inside. He held his bat up just in case as he walked through the automatic doors and into the building.

From the looks of it he wasn’t the first person to come looking for supplies; product was all over the floors, shelves half hanging, entire fixtures toppled over. It was hard to see if any Biters were in the store through all the aisles, and the lights that had been shut off at some point but Eren grabbed a bag nearby the door and tried to find the medicine aisle. It was silent except for his footsteps against the tile floor, the occasional scrape of whatever was on the floor getting pushed away by his feet.

The medicine aisle was right next to the hair product aisle but he was pretty sure none of them needed to dye their hair anytime soon. He opened his bag and reached out to grab any kind of medicine he could get his hands on; pain reliever, muscle relaxer, fever medicine, cold medicine, antibiotics, bandages, wraps, anything he thought would be useful went in the bag.

He looked up once he reached the end of the aisle; maybe he should try and wander the store, see if there were some other usual things he could drag back. The others hadn’t come for him so they must still be okay where they were. He started to walk to the back of the store looking for other small things they might need like flashlights and batteries, though he’d never admit to being a very good Boy Scout so he wasn’t quite sure what he should be looking for. He reached out to grab a jug of water but it didn’t really matter, because one more step and he heard the nauseating sound of a Biter’s ragged breath.

Eren put the jug back as quietly as he could while his head looked up to the end of the aisle where the Biter was standing. He hadn’t even heard it come up on him, but it didn’t look like it had noticed him at all. Carefully Eren slid the bag handles onto his arm so both his hands could grab at the bat; he held it back above his head as he walked closer. The Biter must have gotten a whiff of him because it lunged at Eren, the bat coming right down on its head. The Biter fell backwards into the shelves, causing them to fall but also causing it to stop moving. Eren breathed a sigh of relief as he put his bat on his shoulder again. He did take it as his cue to leave though.

He went to step over the Biter to get out, but a cold hand grasped down on his shoulder, pulling him backwards and almost right onto the ground. Eren swung his bat at its head, causing the Biter behind him to release its grasp and fall to the ground. He really had to get out of here now. Eren broke out into a run through the aisles trying to maneuver his way back to the front of the store; they came from the back so the front had to still be okay, he had only been here for a few minutes.

Eren was wrong.

Wherever these Biters had come from, they were straggling up near the glass doors, coming for him. That Biter that he knocked into the shelves must’ve been loud enough to draw them all out from their hiding places.

Eren gripped his bat but headed right for the door; he swung at the Biters close to him until he had a path to the glass doors. He could feel them grabbing at his clothes, their breath hot near him, but Eren just kept running and hitting, breaking free of their grasp but not them. He knew they were still behind him as the sunlight hit him outside, but he had to keep running now; there was no way he could take on all of them and there was no way he was firing his gun and calling them _all_ out of that building.

He could see the gas station nearby, the groans of the Biters still hot in his ears as the chased him up the street. Armin would see it or Mikasa who would be waiting for him, they’d see it, they’d see him getting chased. They’d come to help.

A hand grasped onto Eren’s shirt nearly pulling him down, but he yanked his arm away with such force the Biter tripped on the pavement but there were more near him. He could see them out of the corner of his eye; he could feel them still trying to grab at him.

He could see his friends outside now; Armin and Mikasa already running forward, weapons in hand. Eren skidded to a halt, turning around to fight and to not let them get too close to the car. He swung his bat at the closest one, knocking it down but before he could swing at another there was a hard grasp pushing his shoulder, knocking him to his knees. Eren tried to whip around, he tried to swing his bat at the Biter above him, but he could already feel a sharp pain cut through his body, paralyzing him on the spot.

The world started to spin as he felt blood flowing down his chest; he could see the Biter above him, mouth locking onto Eren’s shoulder as it tore at his skin.

“Eren!” Mikasa’s voice was clear in his mind and he could vaguely see her near him, pushing the Biter off him and slicing it through with her sword. “Eren!” she cried again and he saw her leaning over him, her hand reaching out for his wound, tears on her cheeks as two hands pulled her away from him. She cried out, and kicked as she tried to get back but she was too far away from his vision now.

“Get him out of here!” someone yelled, but Eren couldn’t tell who, his vision was blurring to the point that he could barely make out the sky anymore; he could barely make out light. He felt two hands grab him off the ground, but that was all, everything went black.

* * *

Eren knew he was in a car at one point, he could tell they were moving. He couldn’t open his eyes to see, he couldn’t even move. Everything hurt, like his body was stretching, being pulled apart at the seams.

“It’s okay, Eren, it’s gonna be okay.” The voice was gentle but urgent; he didn’t have to see to know it was Mikasa. He could feel himself pressed up against her, his upper body in her lap maybe.

“This is ridiculous, you do realize we have to kill him don’t you? You guys should’ve done it then; it’s only going to get worse!”

Eren knew he never liked Jean.

A sharp pain surged through his upper body causing him to tense up as he heard himself cry out. He felt pressure back on his shoulder, a rag maybe, a shirt; she was trying to keep him from bleeding out.

“Shh, it’s gonna be okay. I promise.” A warm hand on his face.

“We can’t take him with us. He’s going to kill us all when he changes! Don’t you think I haven’t seen it before? My parents died and turned in front of my eyes. Stop the car before we’re trapped in the car with him! I’m telling you, it’s only going to make it harder if it isn’t right now!”

Eren could hear a sob near his ear.

“Jean! Stop it! You aren’t helping!” Marco this time but it was getting harder to discern voices; they were fading in and out. They were still talking, but he couldn’t tell who it was or what they were saying, everything was getting heavy again; at least the pain was going away.

“All of you just shut the fuck up!” Armin’s voice cut through the darkness. “If it comes down to it I’ll be the one to do it. Right now we need to get to safety.”

Eren could feel Mikasa’s hand on him, brushing his hair out of his face as she whispered words to him; he had no idea what she was saying but her voice was lulling him off again.

* * *

Light of some sort was hitting Eren’s face; he felt it’s warmth on him, and he could see it behind his eyes. He tried to open his eyes by it was so bright in the room it stung causing a sharp pain to go right for his head. He was in a bed now since he felt the pillow behind his head, the blankets over him. His shirt was gone probably covered in blood somewhere. He tried to move but his body felt like a giant weight. He could feel a bandage rubbing against his chin; they must have taken care of his wound.

“Armin, we can’t just lock him in here and wait for him to change over. That doesn’t seem right.” Marco’s voice was far away, maybe outside the door.

There was silence and Eren thought maybe he just wasn’t hearing well, but he could hear Armin sighing. “I’ve got one person who’s wanted to put a bullet in his head since we put him in the car, and for good reasons honestly, and one person who I had to forcibly drag away from him because she wouldn’t let anyone touch him. What am I supposed to do? He’s my best friend. I can’t just kill him but I can’t just let him live like this.”

He heard Marco start to say something but what it was Eren didn’t know, he was already fading back.

* * *

Eren actually felt his body this time. Yeah, he felt like he just got run over by a truck, but he could wiggle his fingers, his toes. He slowly opened his eyes, but there was no bright light to meet him, the sun had gone down already. He carefully pushed himself up in the bed, so he could sit up a little better. Surprisingly, he felt no sharp pain come from his shoulder as he moved, just the dull ache of his body overall. He sat up as much as he could but something was on the blankets pulling them almost off him. He looked over to see Mikasa’s body curled up on the bed, her back near his legs.

“What are you doing,” he murmured. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but he retracted his hand. He shouldn’t be alive right now. He distinctly remembered being bite, he felt its teeth sink into his skin. He should’ve either been killed or be a Biter himself, not laying on a bed seemingly okay.

Mikasa’s head lifted, her sleepy eyes looking up at him. “Eren?”

“Yeah, it’s me. I promise I’m not a mindless monster about to eat you. That I know of, at least.”

He wanted to ask her what the hell happened but her arms were around his neck too fast, her head buried into the side of his neck that didn’t have a bandage on it. “I thought you were going to die,” her voice was soft.

“I didn’t, it’s okay,” he put a hand on her head, but he felt that familiar guilt in his stomach. His almost last words with her were awful, and she still took care of him. He didn’t deserve that from her at all. “What the fuck happened, Mikasa? I…I did get bit, didn’t I?”

Mikasa sat back on her knees so she could look at him. “I watched it happen. We got you out of there and brought you to a house once we out drove the Biters. We had no idea what to do, but since you didn’t turn right away we just kept waiting and then…” She hesitated. “I don’t know what happened but…”

“Just tell me already, please.”

She didn’t answer, but she leaned forward and reached for his bandage. She carefully pulled it off and tossed it aside. “We went to change the bandage for you a few hours ago and we saw that.”

Eren looked over and he almost didn’t believe his eyes. He remembered being bit, he remembered how it felt to feel his skin being pierced; he had to reach up with his hand and touch the perfectly smooth and unmarked skin to actually believe it. His wound was completely gone, not just healed; it looked like it was never there to begin with. His eyes widened as he felt his breath hitch in his throat.

"What the fuck?"


	4. The Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Lost
> 
> Summary: No one is quite sure what happened with Eren, and just why his wound managed to heal. He does have an inkling his Father might know though. The only trick being they still have to make it to the lab.  
> Pairing: Eren/Mikasa  
> Rating: M (for violence and language)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry it took so long! D: I struggled a lot pacing this chapter and greatly regret my choices to put them in a car. But with some brainstorming with dendensushicosplay we managed to pull it through! And going to work on my car rides more lol I have the next chapter completely planned out so it shouldn’t take as long next time (and I write fanfiction at my desk at work all day long anyway).
> 
> I do want to make a warning from here on out, there will be character death in this story. I don’t know if I mentioned it before (or if you assumed cause zombies and all) but I know I never like to get caught off guard so I wanted to put something out here to say.

Eren felt as though getting bit by a Biter would cause his body a lot more pain, and, you know, turning into a brainless creature with a thirst for blood. Instead, he was sitting up in his bed with Mikasa and Armin sitting near him on the bed and Jean, and Marco standing around him; thankfully, no one was holding a gun to his head.

“So the bite just vanished?” Eren asked, trying to understand what Armin had been explaining.

“No, not vanished,” Armin said with a shake of his head, his voice seeming a lot more calm than Eren remembered it from his hazy memories of the night. “It healed. We checked on it quite a few times, and noticed the wound growing smaller and scarring over, until there was nothing left.”

“Which is the only reason you’re still alive,” Jean grunted, leaning against the wall.

“I do appreciate your concern for the rest of group by going out of your way to make sure I was dead.” Eren knew it was for valid reasons; he had seen what Thomas had become way back at school but at the same time he very much liked being alive.

“You can’t blame him, Eren,” Marco said. “We didn’t want to kill you, but we weren’t going to let you become a monster either. We knew you wouldn’t want that, nor would you want to risk the lives of your friends.”

Well, Eren really couldn’t deny that. “Why didn’t you just kill me right away then? Not that I’m not grateful but I just want to know what happened.”

Jean didn’t look incredibly pleased, not that he ever did. “It was a little difficult.”

“Mikasa and I saw you go down,” Armin said, his eyes watching Eren. “She was the first to get to you but Jean grabbed her out of the way so she wouldn’t get hurt and Marco and I dragged you back to the car. It was so chaotic we didn’t know what to do, but we could see the rather large bite on your shoulder; regardless if we stayed there we all were going to die. We just put you in the car and got out of there. When we found a house far enough from the horde, we shut you in here until we could decide what to do. In the end, while we were deciding you started to get better and never showed any signs of turning.”

Eren nodded, trying to let the information sink in. He got bit, didn’t turn, and then healed completely with no sign of a bite ever being there. “So, I’m immune? Is that you are saying?”

Armin hesitated, his teeth biting lightly at his lower lip; Eren knew that look. “Well, we can assume you are judging by the way your body rejected the virus, or whatever it may be. I wouldn’t suggest going after Biters with no fear though; don’t give me that look, I know you, Eren. We know one bite seemed to heal one time, but if you get bit again or multiple times we have no idea how your body will react.”

“So don’t be an idiot and get bit again,” Jean summarized so kindly.

Eren chose to ignore him. “But why? So far we don’t know of anyone who can resist a bite. Why me?” He asked it to everyone but he was staring at Armin; Eren was sure Armin worked something out in that head of his.

Armin shrugged. “Who knows, it’s a huge city let alone world. There very well could be others, but I would suggest the all of us act like before, that we all can be bitten and be turned.”

That wasn’t what he wanted to hear from his friend but still, all this was beyond bizarre. The world became a field of flesh eating landmines and he somehow had the ability to reject whatever it was made Biters what they are.

“We need to keep going to the lab. My dad has to know something about all this; once we find him we can get some answers. What time is it?” Eren looked around trying to see if there was a clock anywhere; the sky outside the window was still dark but they had already lost enough time, they needed to get a move back on.

“It’s around 5am,” Marco answered with a glance down to his watch.

Eren pushed the blanket off him and threw his legs over the side of the bed. “Early enough, let’s get going.” 

Mikasa reached out for him, her hands brushing over his bare skin where the bite had been before she held onto him to stop him from standing up. “Are you sure you’re okay? Maybe we should wait till a little later, get some more rest.”

“Mikasa, considering the fact I don’t want to take a bite out of you, I’m pretty sure I’m fine. Thank you, but let’s go.” He carefully pulled her hands off of him and pushed himself up to his feet. He reached over for a shirt that had been draped over a chair.

“I’ll go grab the stuff we brought in,” Marco volunteered heading out the door, while Jean followed without a word.

Eren went after Armin through the door with Mikasa close behind. “Hey, hold up a sec,” he called to Armin’s retreating back.

He stopped in the hallway turning to look back at him but his face already told Eren he knew what was coming.

“You know something else don’t you?” Eren stopped in front of him with Mikasa next to them.

“I don’t know anything you don’t, okay,” Armin held up his hands slightly. “You know I’d never keep information from you especially if it was about you. That being said, I have suspicions, yes, but I’d rather not voice them until I have more facts about the situation.”

“Yeah, I figured as much,” Eren sighed.

Armin placed his hand on Eren’s shoulder. “Just be glad you’re alive right now. I know we are. Let’s just go find your dad and get to the bottom of this, okay?”

“Nothing sounds better.”

It didn’t take very long to get the few bags and weapons in the car, and take their seats once more; Armin was back on the road before the sun had even risen. Eren didn’t particularly like traveling while it was still dark but what other choice did they have? They were already far behind where they wanted to be.

“I’m impressed you managed to keep my blood off any of the seats, Mikasa. The Colonel will be ecstatic we drove it through an apocalypse with no blood in the car.”

She rolled her eyes at him from her spot by the window but he could see that smile on her lips. Eren decided it was best not to let her know he remembered she was the one who fought the most for his life; even after he bit her head off for no reason but it wasn’t something he was going to forget. He wasn’t sure what he ever did to deserve her in his life, but he wasn’t about to question it either.

The car was relatively quiet; Jean looked like he had fallen asleep against the window, while Marco was staring out the windshield, the map in his lap. Armin had actually picked up the speed of the car a little bit which was fine by Eren; the faster this car ride was over the better. He looked out Mikasa’s window but he couldn’t see any Biters lingering around the yards of the houses they were passing though he could only imagine what was in those houses. The thought alone made his stomach clench; he wasn’t in any hurry to meet them again, not when he could still feel their teeth biting against him, their cold and strong grip on his arms.

“Eren?” Mikasa’s voice cut through the images playing over in his head. “You look pale, are you okay?” She was already reaching up to press her hand against his forehead.

 As long as they stayed in their car and kept moving he’d be okay; Eren was pretty set on never having a pit stop again. Not that he wanted to tell her that; she already worried about him too much as it was. “I’m fine, Mikasa, really.”

She didn’t look very convinced but she dropped her hand back into her lap.

Though, speaking of their eventful pit stop, Eren had forgotten something. “Hey, did you guys get the bag that I had from the drug store? I know it was on my arm when I was running.”

“Yeah, we did actually. Armin grabbed it when we were carrying you back to the car,” Marco said, turning his head to look behind his seat.

“I do appreciate the variety of medicine you managed to grab,” Armin looked in the rearview mirror, a grin on his lips. “Though I’d hope none of us develop arthritis during this.”

“I risked my life for it so you better enjoy that arthritis medicine.”

Armin snorted as he looked back to the road. Eren could see his face though, and Armin didn’t look that amused.

“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me nothing, I know it’s something,” Eren said.

Armin hesitated, like he didn’t actually want to answer, but they were in the car for a while now and Eren wasn’t about to let it go. Armin seemed to get that point when a sigh fell from his lips. “You really scared us and I know you have some immunity of sorts that kept you alive, but you talk so lightly of it. I thought I was gonna have to kill you. It wasn’t exactly…easy.” He paused for a moment. “You were out of it for most it, but we weren’t. We had to watch you bleeding out and possibly turning into something that would resemble you, but never be you again.”

Eren figured the “we” didn’t include anyone else but Mikasa.

“And I would’ve been the one to do it.” He paused, his eyes on the road. “I would’ve had to kill you.”

Eren nodded, his eyes on his hands in his lap. Armin wasn’t blaming Eren, but it was his fault. He shouldn’t have gone off alone, he shouldn’t have just waltzed in that drug store without a better check; it was his fault whether they blamed him or not. He put his friends through hell, when they already had enough hell to deal with; they didn’t need to worry about him on top of it.

“Hey, Armin, turn left up here okay?” Marco’s quiet voice cut through the silence.

“How much farther are we do you think?” Armin asked, turning onto a road that looked like some kind of main road through a town.

“Well, we haven’t gotten that far since yesterday but as long as we don’t have any more stops, it shouldn’t be too much longer.”

The car settled back down to silence, save for a few snores from Jean. Eren gave him a side glance, wondering how much sleep he lost over the situation; Eren would have assumed none, but Jean was out cold against the window. Eren wanted to say something, to apologize, but he wasn’t sure what to say; apologizing wasn’t exactly his forte. Armin and Mikasa probably knew it better than anyone, and they were the ones who deserved the most apologies.

“Is there, uh, something I can do to help?” He wasn’t sure what he could do cramped in the back seat of a car but it was worth a try.

A smile tugged at Armin’s lips. “Thanks but I’d prefer not to end up in the next county over than where we want to go.”

“That was _one_ time the day I got my license.”

“It was more than one time and you know it.” He gave Eren a look in the rearview mirror, one he knew too well. One that told him it was okay; just don’t be a moron again.

Eren leaned back into the seat again, watching the road through the windshield. They were in some kind of town. It looked abandoned, like every place they seemed to drive by; there were already some Biters lingering around the different stores and offices. It wasn’t a town he recognized but his dad always took them on the highway when going to the lab.

He rolled his head back against the seat. The sun was starting to come up at least so hopefully they’d make it to the lab today.  Maybe Armin would let him drive a bit; he’d make up for all the lost time quickly. After all, Eren doubted there were cops running speed traps anymore.

They hit a rut in the road causing Mikasa to make a small nose of displeasure. He looked over at her only to see her head against the window, eyes closed as every bump had her head smacking against the glass.

She must have been up all night thanks to him, though he supposed it wasn’t the first time he did something dumb to make her worry. He reached over and gently grabbed onto her head, pulling her off the window and on to him. He let her head roll onto his shoulder as his arm settled over her shoulders.

“Eren,” she mumbled. “You don’t-”

“Stop, it’s better than Jean falling asleep on me. Just relax while you can.”

She seemed to stop objecting as her hands fell in her lap though her body still felt tense against him. Well, that could be because sleeping in an SUV with three grown seventeen year olds probably wasn’t the easiest place to get comfortable in. The hump in the middle seat kept making Eren’s ass numb, and the division where the seats could be set down kept shifting underneath his back. Granted, Eren had slept so much the day before he didn’t think he could sleep anymore until he heard the sound of the tires rolling against the pavement, Jean’s steady breath fogging up the window, and Mikasa’s warm body against him. It was like he hadn’t slept at all in days, even though he very well knew better. Eren wanted to think maybe it had something to do with his bite yesterday but he felt his eyes get heavy as his head hit the back of the seat once more before his mind could process more thoughts.

  
“So what exactly is this place we are going to?” Jean’s voice seemed far away, but at the same time far too close for Eren’s liking. He squirmed a little bit, trying to make it go away.

“It’s just a medical research lab,” Armin responded, he sounded close too, but Eren really didn’t want to hear it, he just wanted to sleep. “Dr. Jaeger would take us every now and then to look around and let us play in the woods nearby, but it’s bigger than the labs at the hospital so he did all his research out there.”

“Will it be safe?” It was Marco this time and Eren had enough.

He cracked open his eyes but almost closed them again right away the sun in the car was so bright. “Much safer than this car,” Eren yawned, stretching both arms over his head before letting one fall back over Mikasa who was still asleep up against him.

“Well, at least the car is safer than some things.” Armin looked in the rearview mirror. “Sleep well?”

Eren shrugged. “How long was I out?”

“A few hours,” Marco said, turning his head to look into the backseat. “She still asleep?”

Eren looked down at her even though he already knew the answer. Her head had rolled from his shoulder to his chest, on arm tucked underneath her, and the other draped across his  stomach. He could feel her chest moving against him as her rhythmic breathing was not interrupted by the noise. “Yeah, she’s still out.”

“Should we wake her up?” Jean leaned forward to take a look at her face. “I’m pretty sure she’s drooling on you.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that.” Armin’s blue eyes flickered in the rearview mirror. “I’m sure it’s not the first time.”

Eren kicked the back of Armin’s seat right where Eren knew the seat would rock, causing Armin to jerk the car a bit as he laughed. Apparently, the quip was worth it to him.

“Okay,” Jean said, pushing Eren’s leg back down, sending him a glare like Armin didn’t start it first. “Let’s not get in a car accident when this is our only mode of transportation. No one really answered Marco either. Is this place safe?”

“It’s a medical research lab, it deals with biohazards all the time, of course it’s safe,” Eren grunted. “They have a lock down system, as well as supplies in case of quarantine and outbreak. I’m pretty sure it was made for a situation like this.”

Both Jean and Marco gave him a look.

“Okay, maybe not _exactly_ like this but close enough. Besides, my dad told my mom to go there, he wouldn’t have sent her to anywhere but the safest place she could go.”

“Good,” Jean said, leaning back in his seat. “Cause once we get there I am staying put until all this blows over.”

“We have no idea how long this could take to blow over though,” Armin said, turning down a road that Marco was pointing to.

 “As long as I’m still alive I really don’t care. And if this place is as safe as Jaeger says it is, we’ll be fine as long as we stay put.”

“Well, let’s just focus on getting there safely,” Marco said, holding up the map.

Normally, Eren really wouldn’t be able to tell which way was up on a map, but a name stuck out at him as the sun hit the map. “Hey,” Eren leaned in, careful so Mikasa wouldn’t fall. “I know where we are. Turn left instead of right on Jerusalem Road, it takes  route out through the country but it’s a short cut my dad took me on last time I came out with him.”

“Should we trust that?” Jean snorted.

“No, he’s right,” Marco said, looking down at the map. “There’s a back way into the area it looks. And the country might be better to travel through, less people.”

Eren leaned back against the seat, his eyes wandering out the windows. He wasn’t sure why he remembered that of all things but it wasn’t too long ago, at least he didn’t think it was. His dad had come to him asking him to go down to the lab that day, Eren remembered because he had been on his way to meet Mikasa and Armin so he offered to go grab them first but his dad said no, just him this time. Eren knew it was unusual because Armin and Mikasa always came with his dad to trips to the lab, even in high school.

“Why are you taking us this way?” Eren had asked, looking out at the sudden change from highways to trees.

His dad’s eyes never left the road, but there was a smile on his lips. “Taking the scenic route is nice too, Eren.”

Eren had rolled his eyes as he watched the scenery go by from the windows. “Why couldn’t Mikasa and Armin come?”

“Because as much as I love my two other children, I just wanted it to be us this time.”

Eren had assumed it was some normal “Oh no, my son is almost done with high school we should spend time together” thing but there was something else there, something he couldn’t place for the entire long car ride there. His dad parked in his parking spot and Eren opened the door, starting to head up to the guard station where Moblit sat every day since before Eren could remember, checking badges and talking frantically to someone on his headset, but his dad had clasped his hand on Eren’s  shoulder stopping him in his tracks.

“Eren,” he said, his voice in a low tone that made Eren look at him. His dad’s face had been grave as he looked a head, not meeting Eren’s gaze. “I’m going to need you to be strong, very soon.”

“What the hell are you-”

His dad turned to look at him, his hand pressing on Eren’s other shoulder. “I’m sorry, Eren, it’s a lot I’m going to ask of you, but you need to trust me and stay strong no matter what happens. You need to protect Mikasa and Armin; you need to keep them safe. If anything goes wrong, find me, no matter where I am and don’t trust anyone.”

Eren arched an eyebrow. “Dad, are you sick or something? Cause you aren’t making any sense what so ever.”

His dad let go of him as he turned to head towards the lab. “No, Eren, unfortunately it’s not me who is sick.”

“Eren?”  That wasn’t his dad’s voice anymore but Eren was still standing on the walkway to the lab, watching his dad going through the doors.

“Eren, what’s wrong?”

Eren looked down to see Mikasa’s face close to his, her forehead wrinkled together as she watched him. “Huh?” he asked dumbly.

“You were staring of into space and not responding to any of us,” Jean said as Mikasa placed her hand against his forehead.

He carefully pushed her hand off of him, as heat rushed to his face now that everyone including Armin’s eyes in the rearview mirror were on him. “I’m fine, I was just…” But nothing would come back to him; he had no idea what he had been thinking of. “I dunno, day dreaming.”

Mikasa leaned back down in her seat but she didn’t look convinced.

“We’re almost on Jerusalem, Eren,” Marco said with a smile. “Almost there.”

Almost there? How long had he being zoning out? He looked outside the window and sure enough what seemed like miles and miles of trees surrounded them. He always thought it was weird such a large medical lab resided right next to a place that looked like a national forest.

Armin turned onto Jerusalem Road like Eren had instructed earlier, he just couldn’t remember why he instructed that; Eren figured the map would know better, not him. Granted, as long as they got there, he didn’t really care how. He looked over at Mikasa who was staring out the window. They used to play in the woods when his dad was working, playing make believe, chasing animals, and just talking as they got older; they had done it countless times over long days of summer.

“Hey, Mikasa, do you rememb-”

Armin slammed on the brakes so hard that Eren felt like he was going to fly through the windshield. He threw most of his weight at Mikasa, keeping her from flying out of her seat and an arm across Jean as the tires skidded across the pavement. The car started to turn on the road from the force as the front of the car slammed into something, the windshield cracking and the front end curling in with a sickening sound. It wasn’t the only one. Another crash rang through as something else ran into the left side of the car, windows exploding and metal crunching.

Eren’s ears were ringing and his world spinning. Someone was shouting, someone was screaming but he could barely see which way was up. Mikasa. He tried to see her, to reach for her but his head was aching so bad he couldn’t even keep his eyes open.

A hand grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him out of the car until he was sitting on the street. He went to call out for Mikasa, knowing she was still cramped in the car somewhere but Jean was already reaching back in, helping her out of the wrecked car. He breathed a sigh of relief that aside from some cuts she looked okay. He quickly scanned the area, his dizziness wearing off once he was on solid ground. Marco was holding his head as he stood near the car, the gash on his head re opened, and Armin was sitting down nearby, his head in his hands.

Eren stood up, trying not to fall over, as he tried to make his way over to Armin, a pain shooting in his leg as he did. “Hey, are you okay?” he leaned over, placing his hand on his shoulder.

Armin looked up, his face a little bruised. “My grandfather is gonna kill me.”

Eren tried not to laugh but he couldn’t help it. They were okay. “He’s going to be just fine knowing you’re alive, not the car.”

Armin didn’t look convinced, but he did look a little more relaxed.

Eren looked around the area and saw one massive deer dead near the side of the car and another one in the road. Armin must have been trying to avoid them when he hit it. “So much for Biters, we got taken out by some animals.” His head was still throbbing; he must have knocked it on something when the collision happened, but he wasn’t about to let it stop him. He still had to get them to the lab.

Jean tossed some bags from the broken window of the trunk onto the road. “I suggest you stop standing around and start grabbing something, or the Biters _will_ be the ones to take us out.”

Eren gazed down the road, trying to see if he could remember how far the lab was back here, but he couldn’t see a thing. Jean was right though; they needed to get moving now they were out in the open with only weapons to protect themselves.

Marco had moved to help Jean get the bags and weapons from the trunk; the two of them looked okay, just a little cut up. Armin was still sitting on the ground watching Mikasa grab her sword and a bag from the pile. Her movements were a little stiff telling him she got a little beat up in the back seat too. She placed Armin’s bag and crossbow next to him before she leaned down to talk to him.

Eren was about to go over to them but a noise behind him made his head snap to look. He tried to look past the trees but he couldn’t see anything, if there was something to see.

“Here,” Mikasa  said, making him turn back around. She was holding up his bat, his bag, and a few gun holsters he hadn’t put on before he left earlier.

“Thanks,” Eren said, shrugging on his backpack before strapping the guns onto his waist. “You okay?” He knew she probably was, it was Mikasa after all; even if she was hurt she wouldn’t say anything. He still needed to hear it from her.

Mikasa nodded as he took the bat from her. Jean and Marco were also strapping on their weapons as they walked from the now totaled car.

“Just grab what you can,” Eren called out, his bat resting on his shoulder but another noise distracted him from anything Jean might have said back. Eren turned back to the woods but there was still nothing. He was going to turn back around, but something did catch his eye this time. One Biter was working its way down the small incline in the woods, clearly after them. Eren was just going to knock it out so it didn’t attract any others; he started to make his way over but an arrow shot through its head causing it to fall to the ground.

Eren grinned as he looked back to Armin who still had the cross bow in his hands. “Nice shot, buddy.”

Armin didn’t answer, he didn’t even look back over; his eyes just stared at the woods.

Eren followed his gaze and the sight made his stomach lurch. A horde of Biters were tripping down the incline, blank eyes locked on them. The sounds of the accident must have brought them from all over the forest.

He gripped his hands around the bat as he watched them getting closer. Why didn’t he think? Of course the noises would have alerted every damn Biter in the area; in fact, they must’ve been what those deer were taking off from. There were already too many to fight, they’d never make it. Eren took a step back, bumping into Jean, his back to Eren.

“Shit,” Jean said, his hands gripping onto his gun.

Eren turned to look where Jean was staring at, only to see more Biters coming from around the car. “Run,” Eren said through gritted teeth. “Run. Don’t look back.” He turned and took off; they had to get to the lab now or they were all going to die. He kept his eyes on the road, looking for that sign he knew so well; he could see Mikasa to his left, sword extended in front of her, and the sound of feet pounding behind him.

A gun shot sounded behind him. Dammit. That was only going to make it worse, but Eren very well knew it was because those Biters were getting closer to them. He couldn’t look though, he had to keep going.

A Biter darted out in the road towards them almost having Eren skidding to a stop to avoid it but Mikasa’s blade sliced through its neck before he had to. Biters  were staring to come out from the woods into the road ahead of them at a faster speed than Eren liked; they were going to get surrounded front and back at this rate.

A few arrows shot out at the Biters from Eren’s right letting him know Armin was there. It still wasn’t enough though; the bastards in front were closing in on them. Mikasa hit them first, wielding her sword through the first head she could. Eren was shortly after, swinging his arm back and hitting a Biter in the head with his bat. It fell to the ground and he kept running. Another one lunged at him but an arrow stopped it before it got to Eren.

Gunshots were going off behind them, signaling Jean and Marco getting caught up in the horde too. Eren wanted to turn around and help but that would slow everyone down, he had to keep moving and he had to keep them moving.

Biters kept coming out from everywhere, the sounds only making it worse. Eren swung his bat over at one near Armin, knocking it in the head so Armin didn’t have to waste his limited arrows. He was panting and trying to keep up but Eren could see the strain on him; Eren was feeling the exhaustion of running too but his adrenaline was keeping him up for now. He swung at a Biter and missed but he kept moving despite his lungs burning and the hot pain searing in his legs. Another one reached out for him, grabbing his shirt, but Eren pulled his arm away as hard as he could while Mikasa cut through its neck.

“There!” Armin said, pointing his crossbow at a Biter lingering near a sign hidden behind some bushes.

Another gunshot, and another close by.

“Turn left!” Eren shouted as he side stepped a Biter too close to him.

Mikasa was the closest, bolting down the paved driveway with Armin and Eren close behind. Eren could see the lab, the large building at the other end of the parking lot. They were almost there. They were almost safe.

Gunshots went off behind him, much more than just one shot here and there and Eren knew Jean and Marco were about to bring that whole horde to them. Eren ran up the walkway to the metal door his dad had took him in many times. Moblit wasn’t in his security booth like he used to be, he probably hadn’t been for a long while. Mikasa sliced down a Biter that came at them from a nearby bush as she and Armin moved to defend. Eren had no idea where Jean and Marco were but he couldn’t turn around and look. Eren reached the door and started pounding his hand against it.

“Please! Let us in!” he called, hitting the door as hard as he could.

There was silence behind the door and Eren was about to yell again, when he heard someone moving. “Sorry, kid,” a male voice grunted. “Under strict orders not to open the door.”

Eren’s heart plummeted into his stomach. No. They were not going to do this. Not after all this. “No!” he shouted, his hand hitting the door harder. He could hear gunshots and shouts behind him. The other horde was here. “We are going to die out here! You have to let us in!”

Armin shot an arrow to the other side of Eren, stopping a Biter from going after him.

“I’m not letting my friends die out here! Please, let us in! We came all the way out her for this lab!” He was desperate, angry tears stinging his eyes but there was still silence behind the door. Mikasa was nearby, cutting every Biter she could, but even she couldn’t last forever.

“We have to go! Now!” Jean shouted before he shot off his gun.

“My name is Eren Jaeger!” he tried, his hand numb from slamming the door. “My father is Dr. Grisha Jaeger! We were told to come here! Please let us in!”

The metallic sound of the door unlocking filled Eren’s ears as it opened in front of him, his hand falling down to his side. A man raised a gun and started to shoot off into the distance as another pair of hands grabbed Eren by his shirt and pulled him in. He turned to see Mikasa, Armin and Jean run in before the man with the gun shut the door behind him. It was quiet save for their panting breaths and the deadlock sliding back into place.

“Wait,” Eren said, his head still spinning and his body feeling the ache his adrenaline had pushed away. “Where’s Marco?” But Eren didn’t need an answer, the way Jean was propped up against the wall, his eyes staring down at his gun told him enough. Eren’s stomach turned. No…it couldn’t be…

“Alright,” the man with the gun ushered them on. “You’re lucky you said your name, kid. We were waiting on  you.”

“What?” Eren asked, his head staring to throb again in exhaustion, both mentally and physically. The man didn’t answer; him and the guy who grabbed Eren just led them down the entrance hall instead. Eren looked over at Mikasa and Armin to make sure they were okay; Armin was clutching his chest still breathing heavy, and Mikasa was holding onto her side but they looked okay. Jean was back behind them so Eren couldn’t really see him. Eren followed the men down the hall, trying to ignore the throbbing in his leg as well. They led them into a larger room, one Eren knew to be some kind of waiting room in the lab but he didn’t get the chance to look around, not when one person stood out more than any other.

“Mom!” Eren called dropping his bat as he ran to her. It seemed like it had been years since he saw her, not the three days like it had been.

She looked surprised for a moment but the surprised quickly vanished as she pulled Eren into a hug. “Eren,” she said, holding him tight, even though he was the same height as her. She put both her hands on his face as she looked him over. “Are you okay? Did you get here okay?”

Images of the Biter taking a chunk out of his shoulder flashed through his mind. “Yeah, mom, I’m fine.”

Her face relaxed as she hugged him again. “I knew you’d be fine. I knew you would make it.” Her head lifted up some as she opened her arms. “C’mere, you two, don’t think I’m not beyond relieved to see your faces.”

Eren felt Mikasa and Armin come up next to him as his mom placed her hands on their heads.

“I’m so happy you’re all okay. I was so worried. I had to tell the people on guard duty to make sure they kept an eye out for you, that you’d be coming. But days with no word, I was getting nervous.”

“Mom?” Eren asked, pulling away from her so he could look at her. He was beyond happy to see her alive and safe, but knowing what they knew about him, about that bite, he had to have answers. “Where’s dad? I’d like to talk to him too.”

His mom dropped her hands from Armin and Mikasa, her face falling slightly as she took a step back. “Whose that? He came in with you didn’t he?”

Eren turned his head to see Jean who had taken a seat in a chair, looking anywhere but at the other people. Seeing his mom had almost made Eren forget; they didn’t all make it. “That’s Jean. We went to school with him. He…” Eren wasn’t quite sure what to say but he looked back to his mom. “He wasn’t the only one when we found him, but he is now.”

His mom nodded like she understand all too well; it wasn’t something Eren wanted to think about right now. “Where’s dad?” he tried again to get her back on the very important topic at hand.

She sighed, looking at Eren, a weariness and a sense of sadness in her eyes. “Oh Eren, you’re father hasn’t come here yet.” 


	5. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Plan
> 
> Summary: Eren had been hoping his father could explain to him what was going on in the world and with him at the lab but considering Dr. Jaeger hasn’t made it there yet, Eren and crew need to think of something else: Stay at the lab where it’s at least safe from Biters or venture back out to try and find the answers Eren wants.  
> Pairing:Eren/Mikasa  
> Rating: M (for language)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a wee bit slower than the rest because it involves finally some sort of peaceful setting and quite a bit of talking. I always feel bad with those kinda chapters but it needed to happen to keep pushing the plot along and character stuff :3 So I hope you enjoy them not risking their lives at the moment haha dendensushicosplay is as always my fab coauthor who helps me keep everyone in character ^^

Eren stared back at his mom as her words sunk in. “He’s… not here? How could he not be here, _he_ told you to come here.”

“Eren, I don’t know. He just…hasn’t shown up yet. I’m sure he’s trying to get here, but as you’re well aware, it’s not exactly a park out there.”

He knew he shouldn’t feel the irritation he was, they were safe, they made it to their destination, his mom was safe but his dad was supposed to be here. He had to be here. Eren had to talk to him about what the hell was going on with himself and what the hell was going on out there. His dad would know, he had to know and Eren needed to talk to him now.

“But we need to talk to him. He has to get here,” Eren said, very aware of the biting tone his voice had taken. He was just so frustrated. All that shit they went through for nothing. “What the hell was the point if he couldn’t even get his own ass here.”

“Eren.” Mikasa’s voice was low and warning.

“What,” he snapped looking back at her. Her eyes weren’t looking at him, but at his mom instead; Eren followed Mikasa’s gaze.

His mom’s face had barely changed but he could see the hurt in her eyes; she probably didn’t even know if his dad was even a live let alone still on his way. Guilt replaced irritation as he felt himself calm down. His eyes dropped to the floor feeling a sense of shame hang over his head. He was happy to see she was okay, he shouldn’t have snapped at his mom like that. “I’m…” he tried to say but he felt his mom’s hands on his shoulders.

“We’re all worried and we’re all stressed out. For now, just be thankful you and your friends are okay. It’s safe here; we haven’t had any issues once we got here. The guards are looking out for your dad. Everything is okay now.”  

Eren nodded, knowing she was just trying to make him feel better. After the past few days from hell, it was nice to have his mom there to help him feel better; it made things seem a little more normal.

His mom lifted a hand to brush some hair from Armin’s face. “Your grandfather is in the next room looking over some provisions if you want to go see him. He’ll be thrilled to see you.”

“Thank you,” Armin said and Eren didn’t think he had seen his friend smile so wide in days as he headed towards the door Eren’s mom had gestured to.

“Aunt Carla?” Mikasa said from behind him. “I haven’t seen my parents anywhere; do you know where they are?”

Eren saw the look in his mom’s face change again. She was trying to keep her smile but it faltered and Eren knew. “Mom?” Eren asked, trying desperately to believe he had misread her expression. That couldn’t be possible. Mikasa’s dad, he was a cop, he was used to crazy stuff on a daily basis. If anyone, he’d be the one who’d be okay. He looked over at Mikasa, who was watching his mom with wide eyes, clearly catching on the mood that had dropped over them.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” His mom’s face broke, showing the sorrow she must have felt the moment she saw Mikasa’s face. “We got ambushed and your father went out to help clear our path but…he got surrounded. I tried to stop your mother but she went after him. It…it was too late we couldn’t do anything.” She reached to place a hand on Mikasa’s face. “I’m so sorry.”

Eren had seen people die; he watched them turn in front of his eyes. Marco was with them and then one moment he was gone. This…this was different though. He knew Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman since he was a kid; they were his neighbors, his babysitters, one of his best friend’s parents. This loss he felt knowing the many family dinners he had at the Ackerman’s, the late nights, the outings never had a chance to happen again felt like a hole was in his chest. He looked over to Mikasa, unable to even imagine how she felt.

She hadn’t said anything, she just looked at his mom, maybe trying to hope she’d say they were okay, that they got out alive but nothing ever came.

“Mikasa?” Eren asked, his voice low. He wasn’t sure what he should say, but he wanted to say something.

“I’m just gonna…” she started, her voice cracking slightly. “Where are the rooms?”

His mom dropped her hand from Mikasa’s face pointing to a nearby hallway. “If you take the stairs right on your left, there are some rooms we set up. Just pick one that doesn’t have a name on the door and you guys can have that one.”

Mikasa nodded, still not saying anything. She turned away without another look to either Eren or his mom and started across the room. Watching her walk away gave Eren a sharp pain in his chest. He couldn’t just let her go like that.

“Mikasa,” he called after her, moving to follow her but a gentle hand stopped him.

“I understand, Eren, but let her be.”

He turned around to fight his mom, to tell her he didn’t want Mikasa to be alone but the look in his mom’s eyes changed his mind. They were soft but knowing; he wanted to shrug her off and go anyway but Eren knew she was probably right. Mikasa was always very good at keeping her emotions in check, always calm and collected. He felt his shoulders slump, feeling more useless than he had in a while.

“Why don’t you come sit down and tell me what happened?” his mom’s voice was soft but firm, letting him know she wasn’t giving him an option to run off. She sat down in one of the reception chairs gesturing for Eren to sit nearby.

He slung his backpack over his shoulder, dropping it to the ground as he sunk into the chair; he realized it was the first time in days he could actually relax, but relaxing was the last thing he wanted to do. “It was just me, Armin, and Mikasa until we came across Jean and Marco.” Eren looked around the room for the other remaining member but Jean was gone. “They came with us after we saved them so they could get here as well. We had a few…rough spots the worst being on the road here where the…” he looked around making sure Armin’s grandpa wasn’t in hearing range. “The Colonel’s car might’ve gotten totaled. We had to go on foot and that’s where we lost…Marco.” Eren rolled his head against the wall, the weight of more loss hitting him.

His mom placed a hand on his shoulder. “I know it’s been difficult, but we’re safe now. Everything will be okay, Eren.”

He wanted to say he highly doubted that, not with the way he apparently was immune to whatever the hell was going on. An idea flickered in his mind. His mom might know something, maybe his dad told her something that could help figure out the questions in his head.

“Hey, mom, have you heard of anyone being immune to the Biters?”

“Biters? Is that what you came up with? It’s not very creative.”

Eren rolled his eyes. “Well, it’s accurate. Have you heard of anyone like that?”

She looked off for a moment as she thought, but she shook her head as she looked back to him. “No. The only people I saw get hurt, died or…turned into whatever they are. Biters if you please. And no one here has said anything about being bite but surviving. Why? Did you see something?”

Eren tried not to show his hesitation; he wanted to tell her to see if maybe they could figure it out, but he also didn’t want to worry her, she had seen enough already. “No, Armin just had a theory this was a virus of sorts and people are immune to viruses so I was just wondering.”

“A virus,” his mom said thoughtfully. “That would make sense since it seems to be transferred by getting bitten, but honestly I haven’t thought too much about it aside from getting away from them.”

“Yeah, I understand that.” Eren tried to swallow the lump in his throat. He didn’t like keeping things from his mom but he knew it would only worry her, especially if his dad was involved like Armin thought he might be. “Did Dad…say anything when he called you or before that at all?”

His mom furrowed her eyebrow. “No, he just told me to leave and get to the lab as soon as we could. I assumed it was because he was at the hospital and must have seen it happening before we did but I didn’t question him. I just did what he said.” She reached up to his jaw forcing his face to look at her; probably sensing he was keeping something from her. “Why are you asking these things, Eren? You don’t think your father is involved do you?”

Eren wanted to say he honestly didn’t know; he just wanted his dad here so he could clear up the suspicion that was stirring inside him. “No, of course not. He just seemed to be one of the first people who knew so I was wondering if he said anything that might help, that’s all.”

“Well, it’s nothing we have to worry about. Let the professionals handle it. All we have to do is wait it out.”

Eren was beginning to think his mom hadn’t seen enough horror movies. “Alright,” he said, pushing himself up to his feet as he grabbed his bag and bat off the floor where he had dropped it. “I’m gonna find Armin and Mikasa.”

“Okay,” his mom nodded. “I’m glad you kids are safe. Try to relax now, okay?”

“Yeah, okay, Mom.” He gave her a smile but his mind knew he was going to do anything but relax. He started to head to the hallway his mom had pointed Mikasa to. This was not over; Eren knew something wasn’t right with any of this and he needed to get to the bottom of it. He had seen the world out there; no one was there to help. If his dad knew something Eren had to find him.

He took the steps up to another floor that lead to a hallway lined with doors. They all had windows on them, looking like the rooms had once been once been classrooms or labs; he couldn’t quite tell now that they like looked like refugees rooms, which they were. A door towards the end of the hallway was cracked open, and a familiar voice was speaking softly. He poked his head in the room to see Armin sitting next to Mikasa on a cot. Her eyes were in her lap, Armin having his hand over hers as he talked to her.

The room was small looking like it was once a storage room that have been cleared out to fit two small cots. Armin glanced up when he must have heard Eren open the door a little but Mikasa kept her eyes down; Armin nodded his head to let him know to come in. Mikasa didn’t look like she was crying, but he could see the red, swollen rings around her eyes as she looked up at him entering the room.

Eren dumped his stuff in the corner and took a seat on the other side of her, placing one arm around her. She fell into him slightly; her head rolling onto his shoulder as he carefully placed his head against hers, Armin still holding onto her hand. He didn’t know what to say, how to comfort her when she had lost both her parents in one moment. All he could think about was how her parents were, always happy to see him and Armin, even though Eren was a bit of a monster when he was younger.

“Remember that time we wanted to go swimming in your pool at night, but your parents said no because they were too tired to watch us. Naturally, we went anyway.”

Armin snorted at the memory. “And we tried to be so quiet but you kept splashing us so you weren’t being very discreet or quiet.”

“And instead of coming out to yell at us, Mr. A snuck around outside and proceeded to scare the shit out us for punishment instead.” Eren felt a small laugh from Mikasa; he glanced down to see a small smile pulling at her lips.  There, that was better.

“Or when Mikasa got upset because her mom invited everyone in our class for her tenth birthday when she wanted just us so the next day Mrs. A took us three to the zoo and we had another mini birthday party at her house,” Armin added.

“Oh God, I’m pretty sure I was sick off all that cake for the rest week.”

“What do you expect, Eren, you ate like five pieces at each party.”

Eren waved off his comment, keeping an eye on Mikasa, making sure that smile was still on her lips.

“Remember how cool it was when Mr. A dropped us off in his cruiser when we in middle school,” Armin chuckled. “Everyone wanted to be our friends.”

“Yeah,” Eren snorted. “It was cool until we got to high school where everyone constantly asked what I did to get arrested.”

“I’m pretty sure he would’ve liked to arrest you the amount of times his daughter fell asleep in your bed.”

Eren reached his leg around Mikasa to kick at Armin who was already laughing. “I think he did it on purpose to make sure no one messed with us, knowing we were close with the local police.”

“It would have helped if _you_ didn’t mess with people to begin with,” Armin said. “Remember that time you got in a fight at school with Jean and you got sent home with a black eye. Your parents were away on vacation so Mrs. A was the one to make you hold a slab of meat over your face and scold you for letting your anger get to head too many times.”

“That was a good piece of steak though.”

Eren heard a choked sob from Mikasa that instantly made him look down at her. She had one hand over her mouth and her eyes scrunched shut but he could see the tears staring to fall. He turned his body towards her so he could wrap both his arms around her as she fell limply into him.

“It’s okay,” Eren said, his head still close to hers. He looked over at Armin who had moved to rub his hand over her back. “They were good people, Mikasa.” Eren closed his eyes as he felt her cries against his neck. “They died trying to make sure they could get back to you. They loved you, don’t you ever forget that.”

“They loved you too,” her voice was thick with tears.

“I know. I’m sure Armin does too.”

Armin looked like he was misty eyed himself but he put on a smile. “Of course I do.”

“I just…” Mikasa tried to say, lifting her head to look up at Eren. “My parents, they…they were my only family I had. Where am I supposed to go now?”

Eren reached a hand up to the top of her head, pressing her head back down against him. “You know that’s not true. We’re your family too; me, Armin, my parents, the Colonel. You’ve never been alone.” He reached a hand up to tug lightly on the red scarf she had around her neck. “And you never will be.”

She seemed to relax a little more but she didn’t move, keeping her head against him while Armin sat nearby still rubbing her back. It was hard to see Mikasa like this; strong, independent, calm Mikasa. He got frustrated as they grew older when the tables had turned Mikasa being the one who looked after Eren more than she needed him to look after her but his desire to look after her since he found her that night never left.

“Did you talk to your mom at all?” Armin asked.

Eren shrugged, knowing Armin was just trying to change the subject for them. “Yeah, I asked her if my dad said anything about all this or if she knew of anyone being immune to Biters but she had no idea about anything. If my dad does know anything, he didn’t tell her at all.”

“I guess that’s not too surprising. If he knew something he probably wouldn’t have wanted to let her or anyone know.” He sighed, rubbing his eyes with his hands. “Well, what do you want to do?”

Eren paused for a moment with Armin’s eyes watching him. Eren very well knew they risked their lives to get here, and not even everyone who was supposed to be here even made it here. It was dangerous out there and in this lab, they seemed to have supplies and safety. Eren glanced down at Mikasa, who hadn’t moved from her spot and then back to Armin; Eren had people he needed to look after, to keep safe.

Yet, how long would they be safe here? Food would run out with no other way but to risk themselves out in the woods to find more. Supplies would run out, resources would run out, this place wouldn’t be safe forever.

Eren knew he had to find his dad and see if there was any way he could get to the bottom of it. He clearly was involved being the only person they knew so far with an immunity; he had to find his dad or someone else like him. Something, there just had to be something and he couldn’t sit by knowing there might be something he can do to help this mess before more people he cared about died.

“I need to find my dad. If I can find him, maybe I can get some answers about me and about all this. Maybe with the immunity I can help.”

Armin watched him carefully. “It’s a long shot, Eren. We don’t even know if your dad is alive out there let alone if he knows something. I will say it’s too much of a coincidence for him to be the one to call your mom before all this happened to get her out of here, the fact he is missing, and the fact you have some kind of trait no one else seems to have.” He paused again. “It’s a huge risk going out there again, especially going back to the city, but sitting around here isn’t going to do anyone any good either.”

“I have to go. It’s just…something I know I need to do.”

Armin nodded, a wry smile on his lips. “I figured you were going to say as much. We can stay the night to relax and head out in the morning.”

“We? Who said anything about we. You and Mikasa are staying here where it’s safe. I’m the one who can heal and be just fine, not you two.”

Mikasa’s head pulled away from him, that very familiar determined look back in her eyes. “If you think I’m letting you go out there alone, you’re insane. You saw how dangerous it was, you wouldn’t last a moment. Immunity isn’t going to do a thing if you get ripped apart before you can heal.”

“Not to mention you’d end up in the next state over where you wanted to be if you were driving. I think you might need a little help.” Armin looked amused but Eren knew that look in his face too.

“No,” Eren’s voice was a lot harder than he intended it to be as he dropped his hands to his sides. “Absolutely not. I will not let you back out there just to watch you die.”

“Eren,” Mikasa said. “What’s the difference between dying out there or dying in here? If you want to find your dad then we are going with you. You need us.”

Eren groaned in defeat, feeling his shoulders slump; so much for keeping his friends safe. He very well knew there was no way to change their minds; he had known them for too long at this point. “Fine, I know it’s useless, you stubborn asses.” He didn’t want to admit the relief he felt at knowing he wasn’t going alone, knowing he didn’t have to worry everyday if they were still okay back at the lab.

“We should stock up with what we can in the morning and get a head start,” Armin said, already in planning mode. “My grandpa said they had a few cars in the parking lot that people drove in on when he was showing me the supplies they had. I’m sure we could use a new one since…the SUV is gone.”

A smile pulled at Eren’s lips. “Did you tell him that?”

“I…thought that could wait.” Armin looked like he was going to say something else, probably before Eren started to laugh at him but Armin turned his head to the doorway instead. “Hey, Jean. Did you find a place to stay?”

Eren turned to see their temporary traveling complaining leaning up against the entrance to the room. He shrugged in response, not really giving anyone much of an answer. “What are you three planning. I could hear you down the hall.”

“We’re gonna head out in the morning,” Eren answered. “Maybe try going to the hospital or something to see if we can find my dad.”

Jean scoffed lightly. “Going on a fool’s mission to die is more like it.”

Eren felt a twinge of annoyance. “More like going to see if we can figure out what the hell is going on in the world. Sitting here doing nothing isn’t gonna do a damn.”

“Killing yourself isn’t gonna do any good either.”

Eren opened his mouth to snap back but Mikasa held a hand against his chest to keep him quiet.

“I’m sorry about Marco, Jean,” she said, her voice soft again. “Did you…?”

Jean shook his head. “I just turned around and he was gone. I didn’t have to see it to know what happened.” He paused for a moment. “I’m sorry about your parents, I overheard the conversation.”

Mikasa nodded in response, her hand dropping from Eren.

“I know you might not agree,” Armin said. “But something happened out there, and if Eren is connected than his father might be connected. If we can find him or even follow his trail we might be able to find something to help.”

“You saw it out there,” Eren said, crossing his arms against his chest. “No one is coming to help us. We have to do it ourselves.”

Jean didn’t say anything in response, his eyes staring down at the floor. “This is stupid. None of us are heroes, we’re just kids.” He sighed, shoving his hands in his pocket as he looked back up at them. “Well, might as well go along and make sure Jaeger doesn’t get you all killed. What else do I have here? Nothing but sitting around all day long.”

Eren wanted to say hello no, there is no way but Armin gave him a side look that made Eren grumble.

“The more hands the better chance we have,” Armin said.

Eren couldn’t really disagree with that, but he wasn’t exactly a fan either. A few days in a car with Jean was bad enough let alone God knows how long.

“When are we leaving then?” Jean asked, looking a little less gloomy than he had before, not that it made Eren feel any better about the matter.

“Who said something about leaving? Please count me in!”

Eren snapped his head up to the door at the familiar but surprising voice. “Sasha? What are you doing here?” His once classmate was standing in the doorway, looking bored but alive. Eren had assumed other of his classmates were alive somewhere but being at the school, it seemed like years ago.

“Carla told me you guys were here so I came here to see for myself. Wow, I can’t believe all you made it here and are okay. It’s something else out there,” she said, punching Jean in the shoulder with a grin. “I’m so happy to see you guys.”

“How did you get here? I mean, it’s pretty out of the way from our town,” Armin asked, propping his chin in his hand as he leaned forward.

“Thank your mom, Eren. She saw me and Connie trying to get out of town and shoved us in the car with her. We’d probably be goners now if it weren’t for her.”

“Connies here too?”

“Yeah, he’s helping with dinner right now but I’m sure he’d want to see you guys too. But really, are you guys talking about leaving?” Sasha looked rather eager for someone talking about leaving a safe place for no reason.

“We were, yes,” Eren said arching an eyebrow. “Tomorrow, we have some stuff we have to do.”

Sasha nearly sighed with relief. “Thank God. Connie and I are going crazy in here. I know it’s safe and shit but it’s just so boring sitting around here. I’d rather get back out there and do something for once.”

“You do realize how dangerous it is out there, right?” Mikasa said. “No one needs more death on their hands.”

Sasha shifted her weight, her teeth biting at her lip. “Well, yeah, I mean I was almost killed out there but…I just feel like we could be helping, you know? I get a feeling no one is coming for us here.”

Eren knew that feeling all too well and he knew the others in the room understood. He looked over to Armin who merely shrugged in response before he looked back to Sasha. “If you’re sure you want to come then that’s fine, like Armin said early the more hands the better the chance we have but we were out there alone for days and nearly got surrounded many times. It’s not going to be easy, especially where we’re going.”

“It’s not like I have a death wish,” Sasha leaned up against the door, her hands tapping against it. “It’s just me and Connie already talked about leaving on our own, so when I heard you guys talking from down the hall, I thought it would better to go in a group. Plus I was in the archery club, get me a good bow and I could help you guys out a lot.”

“Alright,” Armin said with a nod. “We’ll tell you what’s going on later when Connie is here. We leave in the morning then, sound good?”

A knock on the door stopped anyone from answering him though.

“Blankets and pillows,” Eren’s mom said with a smile as she held up a stack of material placing one hand on Sasha’s shoulder as a greeting to the girl. “I’m sorry there isn’t a lot. The lab wasn’t exactly set for the end of the world so to speak, but we’ve found quite a bit laying around.” She placed the blankets on the empty cot before heading back the short distance to the door. “Why don’t you kids try to rest. I can only imagine how tired you must be. I’ll save you some food for when you wake up.”

She started to walk away and Eren felt a rush of guilt. She had just got her kids back and they were leaving her again but he had to tell her, he had to let her know. It wasn’t fair to let her think they’d be staying safe with her until someone rescued them.

“Mom,” Eren said, stopping her but she didn’t turn back around to face him. “Mom, in the morning…” He wasn’t exactly sure what he was supposed to say or how to lessen the blow.

“Eren, you are your father’s child,” she turned her head to look over. “I’ve always known that. I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”

He nodded as she gave the others a wave before leaving the room.

“I should probably go talk to Connie about all this too, but I’ll meet up with you guys later,” Sasha said, backing out of the room. “Want to come, Jean? Connie will be really happy to see you.”

“Yeah, sure,” Jean shrugged, looking back to the other’s still sitting down. “Guess I’ll see you guys in the morning.”

“Yeah, see you,” Armin said as the two walked down the hall together. “Well, we went from three to six in a matter of minutes.”

“We’re gonna need a bigger van,” Eren grunted, kicking his feet up behind Armin and Mikasa so he could lay down. The cot wasn’t as comfortable as some of the beds they had slept in the past few nights but at least none of them had to keep watch.

He had wanted everyone to stay safe, to not have to watch them die but at the same time Armin did have a point; the more hands the more weapons, and the more weapons the better they could get through places. It would also make the dangerous trip a little less daunting when he had people he trusted by his side.

“We might need two vans at this rate,” Armin said, standing up to shut the door. Darkness fell over the room except for the light from the hallway streaming in through the window on the door. “As long as they are willing I don’t see how it’s a bad thing. We’re gonna need all the help we can get.”

“I just don’t want them to regret it too late,” Eren said, staring up at the dark ceiling.

“It’s their choice,” Mikasa said. “Just like it was ours to come with you.”

“You two are different though.” Eren reached his leg up to nudge her in the back. “I couldn’t get rid of you even if I wanted to.”

“And life would be so much more boring if you did.” Armin was standing in front of the cot and even in the dark Eren could see his smile. “Okay, Mikasa, your pick. You can have a cot to yourself if you’d like.”

“Ah, well…” Her hands reached up to tug at her scarf. “I think I’m okay…here?” She turned her head towards Eren clearly wanting his okay on the matter.

He laid on arm across the cot gesturing to her it was okay. He knew she wasn’t going to sleep well tonight and even if he had cared where she slept he didn’t think he’d be able to take her crying all night alone without going over there himself; might as well save the trip.

Armin threw a pillow and a blanket over at them. “I figured as much. I for one am exhausted.” He laid down on his cot pulling the blanket over him. “Sleep as much as you can, this might be the last night we have the comfort to.”

“Night,” Eren said tucking the pillow under his head but leaving a little room for Mikasa.

She took the folded up blanket and draped it over them before she tried to lay down on the cot that really was only made for one person. It only took a moment before gravity took its force and Mikasa rolled onto her side into him; he shifted his own weight onto his side so he was facing her to give them both a little more room.

“Are you sure you have enough room. You could still go kick Armin out of his cot if you want.”

Mikasa shook her head, her hands pressed lightly against his chest and her legs bumping against his.  “I’m okay.”

His heart clenched lightly knowing very well she probably wasn’t okay. He had no idea where his father was and if he was even alive but it was still better than knowing he’d never see his parents again like Mikasa did. Eren draped his arm around her waist, pressing a hand into her back as he placed his chin over her head to keep her close. He knew there wasn’t anything he could say to make her feel better but maybe if she felt safe for one night it might help.

She leaned her head against him, her breath light on his chest. Mikasa could take care of herself, she always could but that didn’t stop the promise he had made to her dad long before this shit started. As Eren felt exhaustion take over his body, it was the only thing he could think of.

It wasn’t like there were windows in the storage closet but none the same Eren found himself waking up to a bright light on his face. His eyes adjusted to room as he tried to look over the black head of hair that was blocking most of his view. Someone had opened the door; that someone more than likely being Armin because he wasn’t in his cot and all their bags and weapons were gone from the room. Since there were no windows anywhere, Eren couldn’t exactly tell if it was the middle of the night or if it was morning already.

“Eren?” Mikasa’s voice was thick with sleep as her half lidded eyes looked up at him.

He didn’t remember waking up at all with her so he hoped at least she managed to have a peaceful sleep. “Go back to sleep, I’m going to see what time it is.” He tried to carefully crawl over her but there wasn’t much room to begin with.

“It’s okay,” she said pushing herself up to her feet so Eren could get up too. The hallway seemed quiet as they walked down almost all the doors being shut with no lights on, indicating the other refugees were still asleep. Eren walked down the staircase that lead back to the main room they had been in.

“Good morning!” Armin said from a table that was clearly set up in the reception room and not something that had been there when the lab was operational.

“Hey,” Eren yawned, waving to Sasha, Connie, who waved a little more enthusiastically being the first time he saw Eren or Mikasa, and Jean who were also sitting around the table with plates in front of them. “Is this dinner or breakfast?”

“Well, its dinner that was made last night,” Connie said. “But it’s our breakfast. It’s around 4am. You two hungry?”

Eren shook his head seeing Mikasa do the same from the corner of his eyes. “Rather just get on the road.”

“So eager to leave already?” His mom’s voice came from nearby room as she came into the reception area. His voice gave him a jolt but she didn’t seem upset. “You sleep through food and loading up the car; some things never change do they?”

“You already loaded up the car?”

“Yeah, got all out bags, new and old weapons, and a few more supplies,” Armin nodded standing up from the table. “We’re ready to go.”

Eren watched his mom give both Connie and Sasha hugs goodbye before she turned to him. “You look after these guys, do you hear me, Eren Jaeger? And you come back here alive.” He didn’t even have time to respond before she pulled both himself and Mikasa into a tight hug, one arm open for Armin to join in. “I’m not happy with the thought of you all going back out there but I know you all too well to know forcing you to stay will just make you sneak out. So you be safe. I love you all.”

“Love you too, mom,” Eren said as she let go of them, Armin and Mikasa saying similar sentiments. He went to follow the others to the door, trying to forget that he had just got back to his mom and some place safe only to be reckless and leave again but his mom’s hand was on his shoulder again.

“I mean it, Eren, you need to look after them. I know you don’t want to tell me what’s going on, and just why you need to find your father so badly, so instead promise me you’ll bring Mikasa and Armin back safe.”

Eren turned his head to her and tried to tell her they didn’t need his protecting but the look in her eyes made him stop.

“Armin is smart, smarter than most, but brains will only get you so far when you are surrounded by those things and Mikasa…she acts strong, and she is. I have no doubt she’s going to look after you with all her might but even she has her weaknesses. You have to look out for her too. Promise me, Eren. Promise me you’ll come home alive. Promise me you’ll keep Armin and Mikasa safe.”

“Why are you making me do this, mom?” It wasn’t that Eren didn’t want to promise her those things; he had every intention of doing what she wanted but images of Marco, of Mikasa’s parents flashed through his mind. How could anyone be sure they were going to survive?

“Because if your father isn’t coming back…you kids are all I have left.”

Eren could see the tears she was trying to hold back, the pieces of herself that she had been trying to hide since they had returned. “I promise.” He turned away, not being able to look at her any longer, not with the way she was looking at him. He could hear her choked cries as Eren met Armin and Mikasa at the hallway that led them out. He had to tell himself again that this was something they had to do; the weight of the world seemed to rest on his shoulders but he had to do this. He kept telling himself that as they opened the doors they had come in the day before and as the dark morning sky greeted them.

Connie, Sasha, and Jean were already waiting by another SUV though one that looked very different from the one they totaled. There were no biters in the area; they must have got bored when the sounds stopped.

“You still want to do this?” Armin asked as they walked down the familiar walkway.

“Yeah,” Eren said. “Whether my dad knows something or not, he’s still out there and he can help us. I know he can.”

“Are we all going to fit in that?” Mikasa asked skeptically the closer they got to the vehicle.

“Well,” Armin said turning around to face them as he walked. Jean had already climbed in the driver’s seat with Connie and Sasha in the back. “Not really. This was the most durable car the lot had so we took it but it only fits five people. So, Eren, you get that one.” Armin pointed to a bike Eren hadn’t noticed sitting there before. “I figured since you were the only one Mr. A taught to ride his police bike and since it’s easy to maneuver through spaces a van might not, it would come in handy.”

His backpack was already sitting next to it, bat sticking out of the top. It hadn’t been too long since he had drove Mr. A’s bike, he hadn’t done it alone; still Armin had a point like normal. It would be easy to maneuver through debris or piled up roads to find other routes but before he could even agree Mikasa was already securing her sword on her back and reaching for his bag.

“I’m riding with him then.”

“Hey, who says I need a riding companion,” Eren arched an eyebrow at her, crossing his arms against his chest. He wasn’t really opposed to it; he could think of worse people to ride behind him but she’d be safer inside a car, not out in the open.

“Me,” she said, putting his backpack on her back over her sheath so she could still reach her sword. “To make sure you don’t kill yourself.”

“She has a point,” Armin said, avoiding a hit on the arm from Eren.

“Fine.” He rolled his eyes before taking a seat on the bike. It was different from the one Mr. A had but as he ran his hands over the handles it started to become a little more familiar. Mikasa slid on the seat behind him, placing her hands on his waist. “Sure you trust me enough?” he tilted his head back slightly to look at her.

“Do you have to ask?”

He looked back to the bike with a small laugh; no he supposed he didn’t.

“Where to, captain?” Armin called from his new spot in the passenger’s side of the SUV, holding up the map they used to get here in the first place.

“The hospital,” Eren said back, using the key in the bike to start it up, the engine causing it to vibrate underneath them. “That’s the last place we knew he was and that’s where we’ll start.”


	6. The Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Fight
> 
> Summary: The road isn’t very easy, not that any would have thought it would be. With danger all around them they really can’t spend time fighting within their newly formed group too, but Eren can’t quite see past that yet.  
> Pairing: Eren/Mikasa  
> Rating: M (for Language and Violence)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I missed the action last chapter so have some now! (and for here on out for the most part really). I apologize for the wait ;-; I wrote this to post on Halloween but that was also Youmacon weekend and we got a bit busy, so better late than never. Dendensushicosplay left some fabulous comments about my typos and beets getting caned instead of canned but hey, that’s what I get for writing at work. I hope you guys enjoy! I’ll try very hard not to take so long again ^^

To drive back to the hospital, they needed to essentially go back the way they came. Eren’s dad’s workplace was back in the city closer to where they lived; though Eren did notice Jean distinctly took a route that wouldn’t lead them back to where the Colonel’s SUV was wrecked. Eren followed behind the new SUV, and while Jean drove faster than Armin did, Eren still kept his own speed low enough so the engine of the bike wouldn’t make too much noise.

They passed Biters every now and then but provided both vehicles kept the noise level down they didn’t seem too interested, at least not enough to chase. It was strange though, Eren couldn’t help but think as he eyed a few bastards off in the distance of the woods, that he didn’t have the protective metal barrier anymore like he had in the car; if one Biter got too close to come after him, he had no defense. He glanced out of the corner of his eye to see Mikasa staring off in the distance somewhere, her arms tight around his waist and her body warm against his back in the cool summer morning. Well, not defense a car would have at least; he was pretty sure she could handle ones that wandered too close to them but he also wasn’t the biggest fan of putting her in danger like that.

Granted, Eren supposed he was putting them all in danger after he made the decision to come back out here. He wanted to think that they chose on their own free will, but Eren knew at least Mikasa and Armin would’ve never left if he hadn’t said he was going first. Connie and Sasha seemed pretty amped to have any excuse to leave and Eren had no idea what made Jean change his mind, but it didn’t change the fact that they had to somehow keep everyone safe now; they had lost one already, and it was still too many. They somehow had to survive.

He felt Mikasa move behind him, her head leaning against his and her lips close to his ear. “I think Armin told Connie and Sasha what happened with you,” she said against the rush of wind around them.

Eren glanced up at the back window the SUV; sure enough Sasha was staring at him with some kind of shocked expression and Connie was giving him both thumbs up. Eren rolled his eyes at them. He supposed they had to understand what was going on since they would all be traveling together, but the less people who knew the better. There was too much uncertainty in this world now, too much danger and not just from Biters. There had to be other people still alive and Eren had seen enough movies and watched enough TV shows to know just because an apocalypse happened, doesn’t mean it made everyone good people. They needed to be very careful who they trusted out here.

Mikasa leaned back into him, her chin almost resting on his shoulder. “Do you think we’ll find him?”

Eren almost didn’t want to answer her; everything he had was banking on his father staying put where he was in place that was probably completely overrun in moments of the outbreak. It wasn’t exactly good odds but what other option did they have?

“I hope we’ll find something,” Eren settled on, his voice rising to reach her ears over the wind. It seemed to be good enough as she leaned back, her eyes on their surroundings. It was all still woods as far as Eren could tell, but the sun had only been risen for…he glanced down at the clock on the dashboard of the bike…a few hours at most now. They must’ve taken a longer route around the woods to not reach a more suburban area by now; at least more suburban than the farms they had passed. He wasn’t the one who had the map though, so it was up the ones in front of him to lead to the right direction. He hoped there was a break in store for them soon because he hadn’t had feeling in his ass for the past hour.

It did seemed like it was another hour before the van slowed down, signaling a stop. It looked like they were on the edge of the woods at least, houses becoming more sporadic than before; it was a good sign but also more populated areas meant more Biters.

Eren pulled to a stop behind the now parked van and kicked out the kickstand for the bike to lean on. Mikasa had already hopped off, stretching her arms over her head as Eren pulled himself off the bike. He had to instantly reach back down to it for support; not having the vibrations from the bike left him feeling more like jello than anything else. He looked up only to see Mikasa watching him, a smile pulling at her lips.

“It’s not like your dad took me on cross county adventures,” he grunted trying to push himself off the bike again before the others came over.

Connie was the first one out the door, taking off towards the woods more than likely to take a piss. Sasha was next stretching and inhaling the fresh air outside the car.

“Hey, how’re you two doing?” she asked, walking over.

“Better than you I take it, being locked up in a van with them.” Eren had taken to just leaning on the bike instead, afraid his legs would give out.

“I’m pretty sure she was the one who was fine,” Armin said, coming up behind Eren. “I never thought I’d hear the end of ‘99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall’.” He laid the map he was holding over the bike for Eren to look over at. “We had to find a new route because we decided coming back the way we came and risking the hell hole that was our old neighborhood and school. It’s gonna be bad traveling through the city where the hospital is, so if we can stay out of harm’s way for that long at least it might help us.” Armin pointed to the bold red line cutting through the map as Mikasa leaned in to look as well.

“This is where we are right now.” He traced his finger along the line until he reached a portion that was circled, a portion that was a ways away from where they were on the line. “And here’s where the hospital is. As you can probably see there’re quite a few more direct ways. One is the highway which is a no go because we’ve no idea how many cars were abandoned leaving the road completely blocked, I’d rather not risk it. A few others involve going through other highly populated suburbs and outskirts of the city, again which’re dangerous because of the road being blocked and because you know what high population means.”

“Which basically leaves this roundabout long ass route, which will take us double the time to get back to the city and the hospital.” Jean was leaning up against the back of the SUV; Eren didn’t even hear him walk over.

“It’s the best alternative we have,” Armin shrugged. “It’s the safest way, and where we’re going, we need safety. We’re gonna travel through the small towns that circle the city and eventually cut over through a less populated back route.”

Eren nodded. “How much longer do you think it will take?”

Armin hesitated, clearly trying to work out the distance and the time in his head. “It’s hard to say, there’re too many variables to factor in.”

Eren understood of course; who knows what they’d come across even just traveling the outskirts. Sure it was safer than barging right on in to the city but how much safer no one could to predict. This world was impossible to predict now.

“I can’t even remember a time I traveled in a car for this long,” Connie said, walking up the small hill from the woods and back onto the road with the others.

“Better get used to it,” Jean said. “We aren’t gonna get out any time soon.”

“Optimism, Jean.” Sasha slapped him on the shoulder. Eren noticed she had a bow and quiver full of arrows strapped to her back; she must’ve found a set back at the lab.

Jean didn’t quite look like optimism was gonna do him any good which, granted, was how he normally looked but Eren also couldn’t imagine what it felt like to lose his parents and best friend within days of each other.

“Looks like we’re getting near more populated areas so be careful proceeding,” Armin said, looking at the map one more time before folding it back up. “We’ll go for a while more and see if we can find a safe place to get out for a bit until it starts to get dark.”

“Sounds good to me,” Connie said, clasping Armin on the back, nearly knocking him forward. “I’m glad you survived getting out of that school.”

Armin snorted. “Yeah, me too.”

Eren went to throw his leg over the bike again, ready to get back on the road but before he could even move, Sasha had her bow drawn. She shot an arrow out, Eren following it until it hit a Biter square in the head. It dropped to the ground, off in the foods but too close for his liking.

“I think that’s our cue,” she said, bow still in her hands in case others showed up.

Jean jumped back in the driver’s side and started the car while Armin and Connie got into their seats, ready to go.

“Are you two okay?” Sasha asked but her eyes were watching a few other Biters coming out past the one that she had taken out.

Eren hit up the kick stand, starting up the engine as Mikasa slipped on the back; she already had one hand on her sword behind her back. “We’ll be fine, go on in.”

Sasha nodded before she took her own seat in the SUV. The moment she sat down, Jean started to drive back down on the road, this time at a higher speed to make sure they kept away from any incoming hordes. Mikasa had one arm wrapped around Eren, keeping a tight hold while her other arm was still behind her head. He glanced over at the few lingering Biters; they were coming after them but not enough to catch up.

He was about to breathe a sigh of relief when a movement on the other side of the road caught his attention. He didn’t even have time swerve the bike around as the Biter lunged at him with so much force it would have knocked both him and Mikasa off the bike easily, that is if Mikasa hadn’t already took off the bastard’s head.Her sword was still extended out as the body fell to the ground, Eren leaving it far behind them as he drove.

Glancing around as much as he could from his position driving, he couldn’t see any others coming at them but he kept his speed up just in case. He felt Mikasa sheath her sword, her other arm wrapping around his waist; if she felt satisfied enough to put her weapon away, he was fine with it.

“Are you okay?” Eren tilted his face towards where he knew her head was.

She nodded against him in response. “Yeah.” Her lips were at his ear again, warm breath distinguishable from the wind rushing past them.

“Guess it was a good idea to let you ride with me.”

Her laugh was soft. “That’s because it was my idea.”

He rolled his eyes; but it was only because she was right and he knew it.

The farther they drove the more houses Eren could count as they went by. They were still pretty sporadic but Armin was right, it was becoming more populated; they had to be getting close to some kind of town soon. He was pretty sure they had plenty of supplies between what they salvaged from the wreck and from what his mom had given them but it was hard to not want to keep hoarding everything they could just in case. Granted the last time they had stopped in a town didn’t exactly go very well.

Mikasa had been quiet behind him for a while, keeping an eye out for any movement on any side of them. Connie and Sasha would turn around every now and then to make faces or trying and see how well Eren could read lips which he learned he really wasn’t that good at.

He had no idea how far they had traveled so far but it wasn’t nearly enough to get to the hospital; he looked down at the gas gauge on the bike, he knew it was almost enough for this gas tank at least. Out here in the freaking country he hadn’t seen too many gas stations, still they were gonna need to do something soon or him and Mikasa were walking the rest of the way.

Eren waved to get Connie or Sasha’s attention and when Sasha turned to look, he did his best to gesture to the bike to get his point across. It seemed work since Sasha leaned forward to talk to Armin and Jean and then gave him thumbs up. He hoped that meant they had some kind of plan; well, Armin probably did, Eren wasn’t sure about the rest of them.

It was only a few more minutes before the SUV started to slow down once more, signaling a nearby stop. Instead of stopping on the road though, Jean pulled into the driveway of a large, but seemingly empty farm house. Eren followed behind them, parking the bike next to the SUV.

“What’re we doing here?” Eren asked as Armin stepped out of the car, his crossbow already in his hands.

“We’ve been traveling for a long time today,” Armin answered. “We thought while we filled up the tanks we could eat and try to relax a little before traveling again.”

Eren wasn’t sure if he could really relax in some strange person’s house but he understood what Armin was trying to achieve; some sense of normality in this crazy place.

“I’ll go look ahead,” Mikasa said, jumping off the bike, her sword already in her hands. She pulled Eren’s bat out of the backpack on her back and tossed it to him. He caught it after getting off the bike while Connie brought a tank of gas from the SUV and started to fill up the bike’s tank.

“I’ll go with you,” Sasha said reaching for her bow as she followed Mikasa up the wooden steps of the house.

Eren watched them disappear out of view. He felt his chest constrict; who the hell knew what was in there, they couldn’t just barge right in. He took a step forward to follow after them but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“It’s better if we all don’t go in right away.” Armin said, though when Eren looked over the blond didn’t look too convinced of it himself. “If there’s a few Biters, Mikasa and Sasha will have no problem taking them out, if there’s a lot they can easily get away to warn us.”

Eren shouldered his bat as he watched the front door. He had seen the way Sasha shot, and he very well knew Mikasa could handle herself, but it didn’t mean he had to like it.

“Next gas station we see, I suggest we try and see if they have any gas left,” Jean said, tipping the rest of the container he was holding into the SUV. “They gave us all they had at the lab but it wasn’t much.”

“There’s a bit left in here for emergencies,” Connie capped the gas container and shook it a bit so they could hear the remaining liquid. He tossed it over to Jean to put it in the trunk with the empty on.

“At least we can bolt and manage to stay on the road if they come running back out,” Eren grunted, eyeing the surrounding land for any sight of an incoming threat. There didn’t seem to be any commotion coming towards them, at least not at the moment. Now if only they would come out and make the anxiety in the pit of his stomach leave. A horde would have already started enough trouble for Sasha and Mikasa in such small areas; they would’ve heard something outside by now. Chances are they were searching through each room, behind every door to make sure there were no surprises but it didn’t make the waiting any better. He went to take a step forward again when Sasha’s head popped out the door.

“All good!” she called, heading back inside.

Eren let out a breath he hadn’t know he was holding as he headed up the wooden steps into the house.

“Don’t take too much in just in case we have to run; just take what you need,” Armin called out, of course being the responsible one.

“Were there no Biters at all?” Eren asked as he pushed open the door to see Sasha already sitting on a couch.

She shook her head. “Yeah, it was strange. I would have thought at least a few were lingering around but no, not a trace of any of ‘em.”

Eren still wasn’t about to let go of his bat; this place was pretty large, who knows what places they could have missed or looked over. He didn’t want to be that person who always thought there was danger around every corner but it was hard not to. “Where’s Mikasa?”

“In the kitchen, trying to see if there was anything salvageable. She already kicked me out.”

Jean, Armin, and Connie came in the room, just carrying a few small bags to load things up if needed. Eren looked around the room trying to see if one of the rooms led to the kitchen; he could see a whole other room, some stairs leading upstairs, a closet maybe.

Sasha whistled catching Eren’s attention. He looked up and she was pointing to the hall in the back of the room. Eren gave her a small wave of thanks and headed to the small hallway which lead to the back of the house; there were some pictures hanging crooked off the wall, a table and vase with wilted flowers. A gust of wind blew at him causing him to look up the hall and see the back door was completely busted off. He poked his head out to see if there were any Biters to take care of but the wide open field and nearby woods didn’t show anything troubling right now.

He turned into the doorway leading to the kitchen where Mikasa was reaching up to open up the next cabinet. Half the kitchen was already opened, a few cans on the counter which must have been what she found so far. Her sword was on her back again but he wasn’t about to risk surprising her and seeing just how sharp that thing was. He settled on rapping his knuckles against the doorway.

She turned her head to see who was there before opening the cabinet her hand was on. Once Eren was satisfied she wasn’t going to mistake him for one of their undead friends he headed into the room, picking up one of the cans she had found.

“Canned beets,” he read off the label. “Just what everyone wanted I’m sure.” He felt her look before he even turned his head to her.

“You won’t be complaining about beets when it’s the last bit of food we have and means you won’t starve to death.” Her tone didn’t quite match the smile that was pulling at her lips, throwing off the menacing look she was trying to give him.

He snorted, putting the can back down. God, he hoped it never got to that. “Find anything else interesting when you were scouting.”

“No,” she said shaking her head opening up the last cabinet on the upper part of the kitchen. “The place looks like it’s been cleaned by either the people who lived here or other people like us. I tried to look outside to see if there was a root cellar nearby but I didn’t see anything.” Mikasa turned to face him. “Are the others here?”

“Yeah, there are hanging out in the other room like it’s our next door neighbor’s house or something.”

A loud laugh that was distinctly Connie’s echoed from the other room to let them know the others were just fine.

She leaned up against the counter. “I guess they need to find some normality somewhere.”

Eren rolled his eyes but he was glad at least they could unwind for even just a little and when they still had the opportunity to. Mikasa opened her mouth but what she said was drowned out in some story Sasha had delved into that had Connie and what sounded like Armin in stitches.

“Well, I guess our group found the people who bring a sense of humor,” Eren said. He wanted to go tell them to quiet down just in case there were any Biters nearby, but Mikasa was right, they needed to find some sense of normality with the world the way it was. “How’re you doing?” he asked, causing her to look up at him from her gaze on the cans.

“I’m fine. How’re your legs?” There was a slight smile on her lips telling him she was teasing.

 “You’re funny. Why don’t you go out there and joke around with Sasha too?”

She laughed and went to speak but Eren held his hand up to her for her to stay quiet. That was definitely a creak he heard above their heads. He walked over to the door to look out in the hallway; Connie, Sasha, Armin, and Jean, they were all downstairs. He glanced back to Mikasa. “Stay here.”

“Eren-” she tried but he had already left the room.

His hand was holding tight to the handle of the of the bat he still had resting on his shoulder but he didn’t want to alarm the others; there was no need to panic if it was just one or if it was nothing at all.

“Hey, where are you headed to?” Armin asked, catching Eren on the first step of the stairs.

“Just gonna see if there’s anything useful upstairs,” he said, waving off the question so he could get up there faster. Armin didn’t ask anything else so Eren figured his answer had been good enough.

There was a hall that went across the upstairs, quite a few different doors branching off. Most the doors were already open signaling that those were the places Mikasa and Sasha had already looked in. Another creak with a light bumping noise hit his ears; it was down the hallway in front of him. He held out his bat, ready to hit anything that got too close. Nothing was coming out but Eren peered into each room as he passed. There wasn’t anything, no animals, no Biters.

Another noise made his head snap up; it was like something was bumping into a wall or an object of sorts. He took a few more steps down the hall when a closed door stood out to him. It must have been locked or Mikasa and Sasha would have opened it when they looked through the house. This time he not only heard the noise but saw the reverberations of it against the closed door.

Connie’s loud laugh echoed up the stairs followed closely by Jean’s exclamation of “Don’t you dare, Springer!”

Two arms reached through the wooden door, hands grasping at the air out into the hallway causing Eren to jump back. Another pair of arms broke through, woods splintering onto the floor.

“Shit.” Eren had no idea how many had been locked in that room but with the way the two were being pushed into the breaking door, it didn’t bode well at all. They had to leave. He turned on his heel and ran back down the stairs.

“Out!” he called. “Everyone get out now!”

A gun shot echoed in his ears, the noise in the room nearly deafening. He heard the door fully break upstairs, feet and groans not far behind.

“What the hell!?” Eren called out but when he looked in front of him, he saw more undead bastards tripping over each other getting in through the back hall.

Connie still had his gun in his hands, staring at the oncoming horde with wide eyes. Sasha was trying to take them out as they came in the room but there were too many already, Mikasa having to slice one down by the front door.

A groan behind Eren only reminded him it was about to get worse. He spun around and let his wooden bat collide with the first Biters head, knocking it into the railing but the others weren’t far behind. He bolted down the stairs, swinging his bat at a Biter that lunged for Connie. “Run!” Eren shouted.

Jean grabbed a hold of Connie’s shoulder and pulled him out the door Mikasa was keeping clear.

“Both of you go too!” Eren knocked down a Biter who was tripping down the stairs behind him. “I’ll hold them off!”

An arrow shot by his head, hitting one behind him. Eren tried to get another one that was surrounding him but missed, hitting it in the shoulder. It dove at him but lost its head shortly after, Mikasa turning to slice another one going after Sasha while she was trying to get out the door.

“Mikasa, Goddammit, just go!” Eren shouted when she didn’t follow Sasha but turned to cut off the head of a biter reaching out for Mikasa. He slammed his bat in the face of one that got too close to him. “Mikasa!” he called again. “I got it, just leave!”

She wouldn’t stop though, her sword cutting down on a bastard that had got behind Eren again. He turned on her, ready to just drag her outside himself when he saw hands grab down on her shoulder, a mouth reaching for her neck. Her eyes went wide as she tried to swing around to cut it but the grip was too strong on her.

Eren dove for her, the top of his bat hitting the fucker in the face, the force ripping it off her. Red was all he could see as he hit his bat over and over again on its face. Another body fell near him, its head rolling away.

“Eren!” Mikasa called, her voice sounded distant but he couldn’t stop swinging down until the bastard’s shitty face wasn’t even recognizable. “Eren!” she cried again causing him to look up. She was by the door, her sword taking out a Biter coming for her.

He jumped to his feet, just missing hands reaching for him. He grabbed onto her, talking her out the door with him, Biters following. The SUV was  already on the road but it wasn’t moving; they were waiting Eren jumped on the bike and started it, passing his bat to Mikasa when she slid in behind him. The moment he felt her get a grip on him he tore off down the road, sands and rocks kicking around the wheels as he moved to get on the road to follow the SUV which was already taking off.

Eren’s heart was still racing, his jaw clenched as his hands gripped on the bike harder than he needed to. As if the attack was bad enough, as if her not listening to him was bad enough, she had put herself in immediate danger for no other reason but her fucking irritating desire to always protect him. The moment the Biters were long out of sight, the moment the SUV pulled to a stop in front of wide fields on either side, the moment he forcibly kicked the kickstand up, he knew he wasn’t going keep it in.

“What the fuck was that,” Eren snapped, pushing himself off the bike to face Mikasa. “Care to explain what the hell was going through your mind back there?”

Mikasa’s arms were crossed against her chest, both sword and bat in their proper homes on her back. Her jaw was clenched and her eyes narrowed but she didn’t say anything.

“Well?” he said. “Well , Mikasa? Don’t have anything to say after you ignored what I was saying and put us both in danger?”

“What is going on out here?” Jean said, slamming the door of the SUV.

Eren pointed over to him. “Don’t even start, Kirstein. I know you’ve got a hard on for her but this is none of your business.”

Armin had to jump in to keep Jean from charging at Eren.

“Jesus,” Mikasa said, throwing her hands up. “What is your problem?”

“I told you. I told you to leave. Everyone else did except you. I told you I had it under control but no, Mikasa, no you couldn’t trust me to just take care of myself for once and put your own life in danger.”

“Well, maybe if you weren’t so reckless and now even more so. You think just because you healed one time you’re invincible which isn’t true. We don’t know what could happen if you got bit again. You _aren’t_ invincible.”

“It’s better than you who almost got your neck ripped out in front of my eyes. Goddammit, Mikasa, just fucking trust me for once. I’m not your little brother you feel the need to baby all the time. I can take care of myself so let me!” He could see the angry tears in her eyes and he knew he had gone too far but why didn’t she understand? If she had died in front of him? Jesus. He wanted to keep her safe not have her rush into danger for him.

“Fine,” Mikasa snapped, pushing herself off the bike. “Get yourself killed, Eren. Do what you want.” She turned away from him, just after he could see the tears coming down on her cheeks. She stormed off towards the field, not once looking back.

“Wait, Mikasa, don’t go off al-” Connie stared, but Sasha pushed him back from going after her.

Eren let out an exasperated groan before turning away from the others’ eyes. He kicked at some of the rocks on the side of the road towards the field on the other side of the road.

“Do they always fight like this?” Connie asked but it sounded like someone shut him up.

Why couldn’t Mikasa just see he wanted her to be safe? God, the fury and fear he had felt when he saw that bastard go after her was like nothing he had ever felt before. He could take care of her, her could protect her, he knew he could but no, miss always better at him in everything just refused to let him.

“What happened?” a soft voice asked.

Eren ran a hand through his hair, not looking over at Armin. “She just wouldn’t leave no matter how many times I told her to. She almost got fucking bit in front of my eyes because she refused to let me handle it.”

“What did you do?”

“I beat the shit out of it is what I did,” he scoffed. “That finally seemed to get to her.” Eren decided to leave out the way he had snapped, not even being able to pry himself away until Mikasa called to him a few times.

Armin was quiet for a moment. “Do you think it was because maybe she was just worried about you?”

“I can handle myself. She doesn’t need to worry about me.”

“That maybe true, Eren, but just because someone can take care of themselves, doesn’t make that fear go away for someone they care about.” Armin paused again. “She might have thought her parents could take care of themselves too.”

Eren felt his heart sink, his annoyance being replaced with guilt. Shit, he hadn’t even thought. She just lost them.

“I’m not trying to guilt you,” Armin looked up at him. “I know you’re angry because she could have been hurt that you’re trying to keep her safe but she might not know that. You two aren’t exactly good at always being on the same page.”

Eren looked over to him. “If I had lost her there, Armin, I-”

“Don’t tell me.” He stepped aside. “Tell her.” With a sigh, he walked away without another word.

Eren turned around to see Mikasa sitting down off in the other field. He really didn’t want to, not because he was still as angry as he had been but because he really wasn’t good at apologizing to her, especially when he made her cry. He grunted and crossed his arms against his chest but didn’t move.

He didn’t know what to say to her or even how to explain to her how he had felt when he watched her nearly get bitten. It was like something else had taken over him in that moment and all he could beat the shit out of it; it must have been what it was like for her when she did watch him get bit. Eren had come back though, he had no idea if Mikasa would, and he might’ve had to be the one to kill her. The thought alone had bile rising in his throat.

Eren glanced behind him, seeing Armin move to help Connie and Sasha get some food out of the trunk while Jean climbed up on the SUV, gun in hand. The area was wide open so Eren figured it was a nice place to rest or even camp for the night, provided someone kept watch at all times. Armin walked across the other field to sit by Mikasa, playing peacekeeper like normal. Eren felt a jab in his chest, knowing very well that it should be him but he couldn’t get his legs to move to her, not after the things he had said.

He eventually did walk over to the car, Connie tossing him a granola bar. It was pretty clear both Connie and Sasha were trying not to feel awkward which Eren couldn’t blame them; it was uncomfortable to stand by and watch people argue. He nodded his thanks and went to sit down in front of his bike. He unwrapped the bar, not really feeling all that hungry but he still bit down on it.

“We’re gonna stay here for now,” Armin’s voice spoke from over by the SUV. “Maybe for the night depending. It’s easy to keep an eye on the area and probably will be safer than getting trapped in a house again.”

“I’m fine on watch for now,” Jean grunted from the roof of the car.

Eren supposed he should make sure he didn’t get “accidentally” shot by their watchman; if there was one thing Eren was good at, it was pissing people off. He rolled his head back against the bike, staring up at the sky as he chewed the dry granola.

Connie and Sasha were talking amongst themselves but that was all he could hear; nothing else near or far. It was a good thing; they were safe for now at least. If only the nauseating feeling in the pit of his stomach would go away but he knew it only would if he went and talked to her. His mom told him once he was stubborn to the point of pushing everyone away and one day they wouldn’t stick around. He tried to tell himself this was different, that he had every right to be mad; she was the one was risking her life for no reason. It still didn’t stop Armin’s words from echoing in his head and making his guilt worse.

“Did you have plans for today?” Connie’s voice asked from by the van. “I mean, before all this happened.”

“Uhh,” Sasha thought. “School probably. It’s weird how everything changed so fast when just last week it was like any other day…hey, want a granola bar, Mikasa?”

Eren tilted his head over at her name but no one was really looking at him. She shook her head, sitting down on the edge of the field where he couldn’t see her anymore. It got quiet again, tense; like no one knew what to say or wanted to say anything.

The sun was starting to get lower in the sky which surprised him; he had no idea it had gotten so late already.

“Jean, you’re falling asleep.” Armin called, having Eren look up again. “I’ll watch for now.”

Jean grumbled something but Armin was already climbing on the car, crossbow in hand. Eren probably should have felt safer as he watched Jean slide of the roof and onto the pavement but Eren was pretty sure Armin wanted to shoot him right now too.

Jean disappeared into the car, the door shutting behind him.

“You know, I think I’ll go rest too,” Sasha yawned but it was pretty fake. Nice try, Sasha. Connie must have followed her though because there were two doors shutting as opposed to one leaving Eren with just Armin keeping watch and Mikasa sitting alone.

His chest felt tight, constricted; he couldn’t keep this up for much longer. It wasn’t fair to Mikasa who was visibly upset or the others who had nowhere else to go but be forced around them. He tossed his half eaten granola bar away and pushed himself to his feet.

She was still sitting down at the edge of the road, her fingers pulling at the grass from the field. She didn’t look up when he made him way over to her nor did she when he sat down next to her.

Sitting here didn’t make him think of anything to say but he knew she wasn’t gonna say anything until he did; she could be just as stubborn as he was. He just wanted to get up and leave, to just forget about it, let her stay mad if she wanted to be but he couldn’t. It wasn’t worth it, not when there was life threatening danger around every corner.

“It’s not easy,” he said glancing over at her. “Is it?”

“What isn’t,” Mikasa said but without looking over at him.

“Watching someone close to you almost die in front of you.”

Her eyes met his this time.  “I don’t care what you think, Eren, you’re not invincible. Not before you got bit and not after.”

“I healed though, obviously there’s something else going on here.” He gestured vaguely to himself.

“You don’t know that. We don’t know that. Yeah, it happened once but no one knows if it could happen again. You can’t go into fights thinking you’re always gonna be okay, you can’t.”

“Neither can you.” Eren saw the flicker of surprise cross her face. “You can handle yourself. You’re a better fighter than all of us, I know, but I-we almost lost you today. You can’t do that.” He sighed dropping his eyes down to the ground. “I won’t say you’re wrong though. All of us will die if we don’t work as a team.”

It was quiet for a moment, not tense or awkward, more like the tension leaving between them. Mikasa let her head fall against his shoulder, her hair slightly rubbing into his face. “Don’t do that to me,” he mumbled, his cheek lightly resting in her head.

“Don’t start it then.”

Eren snorted but he could see the smile on her lips as he looked down at her; much better.

“Are you two done now?”

Eren looked up at the SUV, feeling Mikasa do the same, only to see Armin rolling his eyes at them from his spot on the roof. Eren chose to ignore him. “Are we staying here for the night then?”

Armin nodded. “I think it might be safer from here on out. We’ve seen how bad it can get in small spaces so camping out where we can easily pack up and go might be better.”

“I’m not sleeping in a car with those three.” Eren pointed to the car.  “We better raid a camping store or something.” It was a good plan though; while they were out in the open and at more of a risk that way, they were at less of a risk of getting trapped and surrounded which would mean almost certain death. Provided Eren didn’t fall asleep on watch again.  “I’m pretty sure we’d all be dead without you, buddy.”

Armin laughed. “Nah, just maybe a little lost.”


	7. The Other Women

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 7: The Other Women
> 
> Travelling through the back roads isn't quite as comfortable as Eren might have thought and neither was sleeping in an SUV with six people crammed in. Surprises seem to be around every corner, whether it's more Biters coming out at them or a strange circumstance that leaves Eren wondering how much of a coincidence could it be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to not let too much time get between chapters this time around :3 And I went to write the beginning at work and ended up with 11 pages of a full chapter. Getting into some actual plot points now and wow, I love writing stories when I actually have a good majority of it planned out because it makes writing it so much easier haha I hope you enjoy the chapter! And the new characters that make an appearance ^^

As much as Eren learned how dangerous staying in a house could be, sleeping overnight in a van with six people was far worse. Eren managed to snag the large seat in the back of the SUV when Sasha got up to take watch; much to Jean’s annoyance who had been eyeing the seat from his spot in the reclined driver’s seat. Eren really didn’t care though; he was exhausted and just wanted to get some sleep.

Sleep, of course, wasn’t something that came easily. The seat was long, yes, but uncomfortable with no place to put his head that wasn’t the hard plastic or the window. Not to mention he was counting down the minutes until someone got Connie for watch so Eren didn’t have to listen to him snoring anymore from Connie’s spot in one of the bucket seats. It did come; Eren cracked an eye open when the door opened, seeing Mikasa shake Connie till he choked on his snores, waking himself up.

He lept out, and Eren could hear Connie climbing up to the roof as Mikasa sat down in his seat. As much as Sasha seemed to be fine, knocked out in her reclined bucket seat, but Eren wasn’t gonna make Mikasa do that; he had already subjected her to enough today.

“Hey,” he muttered, trying to keep his voice down so the other three in the SUV didn’t wake up. “C’mere.”

Mikasa carefully brushed by Sasha and sat down on the backseat where Eren was trying to make room for her. “I’m fine,” she said, pulling her scarf up around her neck a little more. “I can sleep any-”

Eren grabbed a hold of her, pulling her down against him, her back pressed up to his chest. He could tell she was trying to bite back a noise of surprise but he just placed his chin over her head, closing his eyes again.

She didn’t move, letting him know that she was okay where she was. She was pretty small in stature, not making it too cramped, but even if it was Eren still felt better. All these years he had let her share her nights with him to help with the fears that came in the dark but this time he needed her. He had almost lost her. His heart clenched in his chest; he had almost lost himself.

Eren wasn’t sure what had come over him in that house and why he felt that type of rage, but it had happened, even if Mikasa was the only one there to see it. He had no idea what was going on inside of him and he had no idea what he was capable of. He should just leave them all, go out to the hospital without them; they’d probably be safer that way. They were risking too much just for him.

Mikasa’s steady breath hit his ears telling him she was already asleep.

But how could he ever? How could he leave and risk never seeing them again? How could he abandon them when they had followed him willingly? No, he had to lead them through this and not lose his mind like he did today. It was the only way they would all manage to live another day. Eren just hoped it wasn’t his humanity he was losing.

 

“Rise and shine,” Jean’s ever so cheery voice called into the SUV. “Get up, it’s time to go.”

Eren wasn’t sure when he fell asleep but he did know he really regretted sleeping in the SUV. He blinked his eyes open against the sunlight shining in through the windows, and if that wasn’t bad enough, every part of his body ached from laying down in the car. He picked his face up from Mikasa’s hair, who was stirring in front of him, and he could see Connie and Sasha stretching from their sleep in the seats in front of him.  Armin wasn’t in the SUV at all, but he was probably keeping watch while Jean opened the side door.

Eren pulled his numb arm from around Mikasa as she sat up, already making her way out of the car. He tried to stretch the kinks out but it wasn’t helping, so he followed her out, his feet hitting the pavement. “Morning, Armin,” Eren yawned, waving up to the blond who was perched on the top of the SUV. “You get enough sleep?”

“Much as I could,” he shrugged but there was still a smile on his lips.

Eren was about to ask what was so funny but Jean slammed the driver’s door before Eren could. The SUV rumbled as Jean must’ve started up the engine.

Well, at least Eren didn’t need to ask if Jean was still mad at him.

Mikasa was standing near the bike, strapping on her hand gun to her thigh and putting her sword on her back. She slipped his backpack on, still with his bat sticking out, before she noticed him standing there. “Ready to go?”

“I think Captain Sunshine already determined that.”

“We’re gonna drive for a few hours, unless anyone needs to stop,” Armin said walking over to them. “Hopefully we can get close by night fall and don’t worry; I’ll try and keep my eye out for a camping store.” He rolled his eyes.

“Hey, you had to have tried to sleep with Connie sounding like he was a locomotive. I’d much rather sleep in a tent than in the back seat of a car.”

“I dunno,” Armin shrugged as he started to walk towards the passenger’s side of the SUV. “You seemed pretty fine to me last night.”

Eren wished he had something to throw at Armin as he walked away, the implication not lost on Eren. Instead he turned back to Mikasa who tossed him a holstered gun.

“Just in case,” she said, hopping on the back of the bike.

He strapped it on before following her lead and sitting on the bike. He pulled the keys out of his pocket and started the engine, Jean already driving back onto the road. Eren felt Mikasa wrap her arms around him as he started to follow after the SUV.

It was nice to feel the warm early summer air blow over him as they took to the road. He wasn’t sure if he’d get used to not showering any time soon (another reason why he didn’t want to start making sleeping the SUV a habit) but at least here he felt like he was getting a little aired out. It was also nice to just drive again, to know they were moving closer to where they needed to be, despite how far away the destination seemed.

As far as he could tell, there weren’t many Biters lurking around but they were still traveling through the back woods and from personal experience he knew not to trust that. As long as they stayed away Eren really didn’t care though; he had his fill of those bastardsalready, even though he knew the fight was long from over. They were heading into the city and God only knows how many of them were still there. Eren didn’t want to think about the death trap they were walking right into. If the country was bad, he couldn’t even imagine what the city must be like.

He had to do it though.

Minutes ticked on to hours as Eren followed the SUV that didn’t seem to want to stop, not that he blamed them if they wanted to get closer before nightfall. Still a break sometime would be nice.

He tilted his head back to Mikasa. “You doing okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she answered, her mouth close to his ear so he could hear her.

“My ass is numb,” he called back causing hear to laugh. At least she didn’t still seem mad about yesterday; she was back to her usual self.

She tried to wave to Sasha who was keeping an eye on them from the backseat of the SUV in case they needed to stop. She wasn’t doing that great of a job though because she wasn’t even sitting back there anymore.

Eren was about to drive up beside the SUV to get their attention but he could see buildings in the distance. There was a town nearby. The SUV started to slow down until it came to a stop, just outside the town itself causing Eren to turn off the bike behind them. His legs did feel a little like jello again but he managed to stand as he propped the bike up.

“What’s going on?” he asked as Jean stepped out the SUV, the others following suit.

“Take a look,” he grunted in response. “Very well can’t drive through that.”

Eren walked along side of the SUV, taking a look at the town that was right in front of them. It looked like a pretty regular country town, except for the barricades of furniture blocking the main road through the town. There were a few Biters that looked like they have tried to get through but were limply struggling against the spikes they had impaled themselves on **.**

“There has to be people in there,” Sasha said, her bow already in her hands. “These are traps made for protection.”

“Maybe we should go in, they might have shelter or something,” Connie suggested, but Eren didn’t feel quite right about it.

“Obviously if there are people here they’re defensive. I dunno if we can go in without risk of getting shot,” he said. “I mean, yeah, we’re clearly humans but we’ve never met anyone away from the people in my dad’s lab. We can’t assume everyone is our friend.”

“Eren’s right,” Armin agreed. “But we don’t really have much of a choice; they’re blocking our only way out. I say proceed with caution, but we need to proceed.”

“How are we supposed to get in?” Connie said staring at the barricades but Mikasa was one step ahead of them all.

She found her footing and scaled over the top, jumping down on the other side.

“That works,” Eren said, following after her, not feeling alright with her being alone in that town. He saw the others following, finding their own paths over the top and trying to avoid the Biters stuck in the furniture who were reaching after them. It really wasn’t that high and Eren found his feet back on the pavement in no time. He looked towards Mikasa who wasn’t standing too far away, her sword already in her hands.

The town still looked normal though completely deserted; not even a flicker of movement anywhere. All he could see was another barricade farther down the road. Maybe Sasha was right, maybe they were keeping the Biters out to keep the others inside safe. If there were people though, Eren had no idea where they were hiding.

“Huh,” Armin said, walking up to Eren and Mikasa. “Looks pretty deserted, just like every other place we’ve been too.”

Sasha shook her head. “No, there’s someone here.” Something must have caught her eye because she suddenly looked panicked. “Duck!”

Eren dropped to the ground just as the sound of a gunshot hit his ears. He looked up making sure no one got hit, but they were all on the ground too; no blood he could see. “Hey! Hey!” he shouted holding his hands up slightly. “We don’t want trouble, we’re just passing through!”

There was silence again, before another gun shot rang out. Judging by the sounds of glass shattering, it wasn’t aimed at them directly.

“We _just_ want to pass through!” Jean shouted. “That’s all! We don’t want your supplies or anything!”

Silence fell throughout the area again. Eren was pretty sure they were all about to get shot but nothing happened.

“Knock it off!” a female called from somewhere. “I know them!”

Eren risked looking up just to make sure everyone was still okay but he heard a door opening first.

“Oh my God.” The female voice was much closer and much more familiar. “I’m so sorry, you guys!”

“Historia?” Connie spurted from nearby.

Eren’s head shot up to see the small blond who sat in the front row of his English class. “What _are_ you doing here?”

She shrugged, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “The same thing as you, I guess. Trying to survive. Oh! You guys can get up; I promise she won’t shoot at you anymore.”

“She?” Jean asked as he brushed off the dirt from his clothes; not that he needed to they were all covered in grime.

“Whoops,” another voice said, one that Eren didn’t recognize. “Sorry.”

Once he stood up Eren could see a taller woman leaning up against a doorway, gun slung over her shoulder.

“Please, follow me,” Historia said. “Let me make it up to you.” She headed over to the doorway where the other woman was standing.

Eren glanced over to the others who all seemed to be looking at him. Well, they knew her at least, and she did get the other one to stop trying to kill them. Since everyone was waiting on his lead Eren started to follow her, but not without his hand flickering to where his holster was. What he wanted to know was what a girl from their school was doing all the way out here.

Historia held the door open as they all walked into what looked like to be some kind of general store, though the shelves had nearly been completely raided. The woman with Historia must have already left because Eren didn’t see her anywhere. Historia led them back through the store to a set of stairs that brought them to another floor and one that looked much more like an apartment.

The woman was back sitting by the window, watching all of them as they came in.

“Please, sit down, make yourselves at home,” Historia smiled at them but no one moved. “This is Ymir,” she said walking over to the woman. “She was just trying to keep us safe here; I promise she won’t shoot you again.”

“I wouldn’t promise that,” Ymir snorted causing Historia to hit her on the shoulder.

“She’s just teasing. Please, relax for a little bit. I know it’s rough out there.”

Jean was the first one to break, collapsing in an armchair nearby, while Connie and Sasha shuffled to the couch. Eren glanced over to Armin who was still looking wary, Mikasa standing behind them.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Armin started. “But what the hell are you guys doing out here?”

Historia glanced down to Ymir for a moment before looking back to Armin. “It’s kinda a long story.”

Eren sat down on the love that was off to his side, crossing his arms against his chest. “We have time.” Something about all of this just seemed off. Why the hell would they be all the way out here so far from the school and the city? Why would they pick here of all places?

Armin leaned up against the armrest where Eren was sitting while Mikasa shrugged off the backpack to sit down with Eren but left her sword on her back.

“Well,” Historia started, sitting down next to Ymir. “I was at school that day, but thank God Ymir was there to pick me up early. She texted me that she was here and to skip the rest of the day, and I ran out simple as that. It wasn’t until a little later in the day that we realized what was going on in the world.”

“It was complete chaos,” Ymir added, glancing behind her out the window. “We drove and drove until we got here. It was abandoned and decided it was a safe enough place to wait it out.”

“But why here?” Armin asked and Eren could almost see the gears turning in his head.

It was too convenient, wasn’t it? The day the world goes to hell, this woman, Ymir just happens to pick up Historia early, and then ends up out here which happens to be in the same county his father’s lab was in? Eren shook his head. Maybe it was just coincidence; maybe he was just being paranoid. After all, there weren’t many places to go Eren assumed, but still, how did they make it back here of all places?

Ymir shrugged in response. “Why not here? There were supplies left over, plenty of material to make those barricades you saw. Whatever kept my Historia safe was fine with me.” She tossed her arm around the small girl, pressing a kiss against her temple causing Historia to laugh.

Something clicked in Eren’s mind; rumors of Historia Riess, the daughter of a local Politian’s mistress, who was dating an older woman but no one knew who it was.

“You’re the first people we’ve seen,” Historia said. “What are you doing out here?”

“Eren’s dad is missing,” Armin said simply. “We decided to try and go look for him.”

Now it was Historia’s turn to look skeptical. “No offence, Eren, but why would you risk your lives for someone you don’t even know is dead or alive?”

“Cause he’s my dad. I promised my mom I’d find him,” Eren answered catching on to Armin’s story. “That’s why we were out here; we came from his work lab where my mom is. We’re taking the route back to the city.”

“You guys,” Historia gasped. “You can’t go there! Those things will be swarming; you’ll never make it out alive. We saw it firsthand.”

“We appreciate your concern but this is something we’ve already decided to do,” Armin answered with a smile.

“Well, okay. You’re more than welcome to stay here for a little bit if you’d like.”

“Again, thank you, but all we really need is to get past the barricades so our vehicles can get through.”

Historia looked to Ymir. “Yeah, we can break up a space to let you through.”

Ymir wasn’t looking back though, her eyes were on Eren as if she was trying to place him somewhere. “Hey, kid, is your father Grisha Jaeger?”

Eren nearly choked. “How did you know that?” He probably shouldn’t have admitted to his father’s name to someone he didn’t know but he was just so caught off guard he wasn’t sure what else to say.

Ymir shrugged. “You look like him, that’s all.”

Mikasa choked back a laugh which caused everyone in the room to look at her. “What?” she mumbled. “You picture Eren with long hair and a beard.”

He nudged her with his shoulder and a roll of his eyes, though when he glanced at Mikasa he could tell she only did it to keep the atmosphere light which meant Mikasa picked up on it too. Ymir knew something about his father. Of all the people in the world to ask if that was his father? No, Ymir wanted to know if he was his father’s son for some reason.

“How do you know my dad?” Eren tried again. “We’ve been having a hard time tracking him down.”

Ymir shrugged. “I’ve seen him before, at the hospital.”

That didn’t tell Eren anything, and he had a feeling that was because Ymir was backtracking now that she knew who he was.

“Do you know anything that could help us find him?” Sasha asked. “It’s important.”

Eren knew Sasha was just trying to help, but her words were giving them away without Sasha ever knowing it. It was important of course, his father would be the key to this whole thing but under no circumstances could they tell Ymir that.

“Nah, dunno nothing but our little world here,” Ymir answered, pulling Historia closer to her.

Silence settled down in the room again now that it was clear probably more than just to Eren that Ymir knew more than she was letting on. Eren kept his eyes on her, but she her gaze was closed off; she wasn’t giving anything else away.

“Is there anything we can help you with? We have some extra supplies or you could spend the night here and be rested for the morning,” Historia offered, obviously still feeling guilty that Ymir shot at them.

“Thanks but we probably should be heading out,” Jean said, standing to his feet as he gave Eren a glance. “Still have a ways to go.”

Historia stood up. “Okay, let’s see about moving some things around for you.”

Eren let everyone go in front of him so that it was only Ymir following them down the stairs. He was going to talk to her one more time; he had to know what she knew. There was too much evidence piling up to just be a coincidence.  

“Jean, why don’t you, me, Sasha, and Connie try and knock down a hole in the farther barricade, and the others take the closer one. Don’t worry about it too much, we can build them…back…up.” Historia halted in the middle of the road, staring wide eyed out at the street.

“Shit,”Jean said, running a shaking hand through his hair as he watched after her.

It didn’t take long for Eren to see the hoard of Biters coming their way too and he had to bite back the wave a nausea that turned his stomach. Suddenly, his planned conversation with Ymir wasn’t too important. If they didn’t move now they would be trapped.

“I should have known those shots would have called them,” Ymir grunted, pulling her gun off her shoulder. “Historia, take them and knock down that barricade.”

They didn’t need to be told twice; Jean tossed Armin the keys and the four of them ran down the road. Mikasa was already pushing on the furniture, pieces falling away as she did. Eren pulled the bat out of her backpack and started to pound on the wood as hard as he could. Ymir was shooting off shots at the hoard but the noise had already done it, there was no stopping them now.

Armin squeezed through the hole Mikasa had made and darted to the SUV jumping in safety; Eren made sure of it before he went back to working the gap larger. An impaled Biter on the front of the barricade grabbed a hold of his shirt but it only took one hit with his bat and that section of the barricade to come crashing down on it.

The SUV was at the front of the gap now, Armin waiting till he could squeeze himself by, but the bastards were getting closer the longer he waited. Eren tossed his bat to Mikasa to use as he jumped over a broken table to get around the waiting car. The Biters were only a few feet away from where his bike was left, but it was enough time to get it started and to drive through the gap between Armin in the car and the open area of the barricade.

“Mikasa, come on!” he shouted, keeping his feet steady on the ground to balance the bike. He gestured for Armin to just drive through when they were out of the way while Mikasa jumped on the back of the bike.

“Hey, Jaeger,” Ymir said, shooting off another round as she made her way towards them. She glanced over at Eren before aiming her gun again. “If your dad is really who you say he is.” She paused for a moment and Eren couldn’t read the look in her eyes. “Try Stillwater Road. It’s a few miles down, you might find something you’re looking for.”

Armin drove through the barricade, splintering the remaining furniture as he took off to the other end to grab the others.

Eren wanted to ask her what that was, how did she now, what did she know? But there was no time. If he stood there and tried to get answers, they all were in danger. He would never risk his friend’s lives like that, even for answers. “Thanks,” was all he said before driving down the road, gun shots ringing in his ears. He maneuvered around Connie and Sasha who were still diving into the SUV and out through the gap they had made onto the main road once again.

“Historia, come on, now!” he could hear Ymir shouting in the distance.

Eren glanced behind him to see Ymir pulling Historia inside a building as Armin drove through the second gap, more wood flying everywhere. He turned to the road again as he felt Mikasa shift her grip to one arm around him to pull out her sword incase Biters were drawn from this side as well.  He was having a hard time paying attention to see if there were any though. What the hell was on Stillwater Road and why would Ymir want to get him to go there? Just what had his father been involved in?

Eren drove, following the twists and turns of the country until he finally felt a safe distance away from that town; away from Biters and away from prying ears. He pulled the bike over to the side of the road, knowing Armin would do the same.

“You okay?” he asked, turning to look at Mikasa.

She nodded; she still had her sword out as Eren pushed himself off the bike.

Armin was the first one out of the car. “What did Ymir say to you?”

Eren ran his hands through his hair as he leaned up against the bike, Mikasa keeping it steady with her feet on the ground. “She told me the name of a street, Stillwater Road. Sound familiar?”

Armin placed his hand on his chin as he thought as Jean, Connie, and Sasha came up behind him. “No, I’ve never heard of it. I take it its somewhere on this road?”

“A few miles down she said.”

“You aren’t seriously thinking of going are you?” Jean arched an eyebrow. “She was being ridiculously shady. I highly doubt we could trust anything that came from her mouth.”

“She knew something though,” Sasha said. “That was obvious enough. I mean how else she would know we were looking for Dr. Jaeger? Eren looks way more like his mom than his dad.”

“I would agree,” Armin said thoughtfully. “There was something behind her words. She wanted to know if you were Dr. Jaeger’s son and when she did, she was a lot vaguer with what she was saying. Also, I found it too hard to believe they just ‘ended up’ in that town. If there was something off this road, Ymir might have come here to keep an eye on whatever it was and I would bet she knew Dr. Jaeger had a son or she would have never even asked in the first place, possibly knowing Eren would come through here. But how?”

“Don’t look at me, I didn’t say anything this time,” Connie said raising his hands in defense.

“Don’t be a moron.” Jean hit the back of Connie’s head. “You’ve been with us the whole time.”

If Ymir did come here to guard or keep an eye on the road that would lead to whatever this Stillwater Road was, then could they really trust what she said? They could be walking right into a trap. Yet, what if it was her way of giving him the information he needed without being direct should she be questioned about it in the future by whoever sent her there.

“Do you think Ymir knew it was going to happen?” Mikasa asked, jolting Eren from his thoughts. “It was clear her affection for Historia was real at least. So on the one day all of this happened, she got Historia out of school before it turned into a bloodbath? That mixed with her cryptic allusions to Dr. Jaeger seems to only point in one direction.”

“How could she have possibly known though?” Connie asked.

“How did my dad know?” Eren shrugged. “That’s what we are trying to figure out.” A part of him just wanted to run to this road and see what the hell Ymir had been leading him to but at the same time, what if he was leading them right into a trap?

“I think we should go,” Mikasa answered for him.

“You can’t honestly be serious,” Jean said. “We have no idea who she was; going there could kill us all.”

Mikasa seemed unfazed. “We’ll never know until we see what it is. There could be nothing but there could be something. This is why we left, to find Dr. Jaeger. We have to follow all the leads or we won’t know anything.”

Eren felt a small smile pulling at his lips; she was her father’s daughter.

“You can’t be serious,” Jean said. “This could be a _trap._ ”

“Yeah, we get that already,” Eren said. “Look, Mikasa is right. This is why we left, to try and find my dad. Even if there is a fraction of a chance to learn something, we have to try.”

“Eren and I will scout ahead,” Mikasa said. “The bike is easier to maneuver and less noticeable. We can come back and decide when we have more information.”

“I’m fine with that,” Armin agreed. “We’ll stop at the end of the road to wait while you two go on a head. We’ll set a time limit to go after you if you aren’t back in a certain amount of time.”

Connie and Sasha voiced their sounds of agreement but Jean still didn’t look convinced, not with the way he was glaring at Eren. He wanted to just tell Jean that no one asked him to come with them, but Jean turned to go back to the passenger side of the SUV before Eren could; which was probably a good thing. He really didn’t feel like fighting again.

“Jesus, what is his problem,” Eren grunted, crossing his arms against his chest.

Armin gave him a wry smile. “I think you don’t need anyone to tell you that answer, Eren.”

Yeah, how was it his fault Jean was jealous cause he wanted to sleep with Eren’s best friend. The thought alone infuriated him more than anything else going on; granted Jean was probably more irritated that Eren called Jean out when he was angry yesterday but still. If Jean for one second thought he was good enough for Mikasa, he had another thing coming to him.

“He’s probably just worried,” Sasha shrugged snapping Eren from his thoughts. “All of this is so unknown. It’s hard to plan things that will keep everyone safe when…” She didn’t need to finish, not when loss was already surrounding them every day.

“We just do the best we can,” Armin said. “We should get going. Lead the way, Eren.”

Eren nodded as Armin took the driver’s seat once more, Connie and Sasha jumping in the back. Eren swung his leg over the bike, holding it steady as Mikasa leaned into him again. “Keep an eye out for street signs, okay?”

“Got it.” She put her arms around his waist as the bike started up.

He could hear the SUV engine starting behind him. “Thanks for that back there.”

“Of course, I want to find your dad as much as you.” She paused. “They’re the only family I have left.”

Eren started the bike down the road, the wind hitting his body once more. “We’ll find him.” He said to no one, knowing Mikasa couldn’t hear him. “We have to.”


	8. The Lab

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 8: The Lab
> 
> Another lab? Eren was getting pretty sick of being around science all the time. Yet this one was a little different but was its lack of apparent danger comforting or just even more boding? The only way Eren could figure it out was to venture inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really love writing this one so dendensushicosplay and I thank you guys for sticking around for it! This chapter has some set up in it so it's not super actiony as the others but I promise the next chapter and ones to come are pretty full cause some shits about to go down real quick here. Also I tossed a few references in there for you guys ;3

Eren didn’t know what he had been expecting when he turned onto Stillwater Road but a giant abandoned building wasn’t quite it. He turned off the bike and placed his feet on the ground, keeping him and Mikasa balanced while he stared out at the building.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Judging by the electric fences around it, I’d say somewhere that was meant to keep people out,” Mikasa said, her sword in her hand just in case.

“Or in.”

 The whole building was surrounded by tall, electric fences with barbed wire at the top; it looked more like a prison than anything but somehow Eren didn’t think that was quite right. It was large, yeah, but too small for a prison and the parking lot wasn’t nearly big enough for one.

“Star Labs,” Mikasa said, pointing towards a worn out sign on the side of the road. “It’s another lab. I wonder if that’s why Ymir told you to come here. It could be connected to your dad.”

Now it was too much of a coincidence. A lab like the one his father had worked at but abandoned and out in the middle of nowhere? There had to be something to this; they needed to go inside. Armin had set a twenty minute limit before the others would go after them and five minutes had already gone by. There would be no time for just him and Mikasa to venture in alone.

“We have to go inside,” Eren said, looking back to Mikasa. “If my dad knew anything about this place maybe he came here or maybe he left something behind.” It very well could be that his father didn’t know anything about this lab but Ymir did. She somehow knew who his dad was and who Eren was and therefore led him here; they had to try.

“They aren’t going to like it,” Mikasa said, leaving out that “they” meant Jean.

Eren started the bike up again. “He can keep watch outside then.”

There was one other thing that was bothering him about this place though. Despite the fact it looked like a large area that would have been well populated at one point, there were no Biters lingering inside the fences. All the gates were shut as far as Eren could tell, but why weren’t there left over people who would have been trapped when the virus hit? He shook his head as he turned the bike on the pavement, sending them back down the way they came. He shouldn’t question it, but a part of him had to wonder what they were about to walk into.

It seemed like it took less time to get back down the road but when they did, the SUV was still there, everyone standing outside waiting.

“Was it anything?” Armin asked when Eren pulled to a stop in front of them.

“Yeah,” he answered, putting his feet on the ground once more. “A lab. It looks abandoned but it was called Star Labs. I don’t remember my dad ever saying that name, but it seems too coincidental to be nothing.”

Armin took the information in; getting that distant look in his eyes that Eren knew meant he was thinking. “If Ymir somehow knew Dr. Jaeger, and she informed you of this place, for good or bad it has to be connected.” Armin looked over to Eren again. “Was it accessible?”

“The gates seemed to be closed,” Mikasa said, sheathing her sword. “As far as I could tell there weren’t padlocks so we should be able to get right in. The building wasn’t falling apart, just abandoned. It seemed safe…as safe as anything could be here.”

Like expected, Jean was not pleased about the plan; his arms were already crossed against his chest, but he could suck it. This could be what they were looking for.

“How many Biters were lingering?” Sasha asked.

Eren hesitated for a moment. “I didn’t see any outside.”

“You didn’t see any?” Jean repeated. “So this supposedly shut up large building had no Biters outside? You do realize what that means right. We’re walking into our deaths.”

“What difference is that from any other damn day out here,” Eren snapped. He was so tired of Jean’s attitude. Why couldn’t he understand they would all die if they never found his father? They needed this; they needed any lead they got.

“We’ll get a plan together before we go in,” Armin said, silencing the both of them. “First, let’s just go and scout the area before we do anything.”

The bike started up with a rev of the engine. “Just follow the road, you won’t miss it.” Eren said, turning to drive up the side road once more. Jesus, everything Eren had to say Jean just had to disagree. Didn’t he know how to make anything easy for once? Yeah, Jean had lost pretty much everyone close to him in a few days of each other but he wasn’t the only one who had loss. Without Eren’s dad, who knows how long they would all have to deal with unnecessary loss.

“He’s frustrated and feels a loss of control,” Mikasa said, her lips close to his ear as if she could read his thoughts. “Don’t let him get to you.”

Easier said than done. Still, she was right; losing his temper all the time was only going to put them all in more danger. He swallowed hard. Who knows what else it would make him lose too.

Star Labs. Eren stopped the bike right in front of sign. The building looked like at one point it had been a nice and modern base for technology but at the rate that this place looked, with the fences waving slightly in the wind and the overgrown grass, it was abandoned long before a few days ago.

The rumbling of the SUV driving against the pavement hit Eren’s ears signaling him that the others had followed just fine. Mikasa jumped off the back of his bike and walked the short distance across the road to the main gate between the fences.

She reached a hand out to the gate that once upon a time probably was electric.

“I swear to God, Mikasa, if you pretend to get electrocuted,” he called out as the SUV pulled up behind him.

She looked back to him as she pushed the metal gate open. “That’s something you would do.”

Well, that was probably true. She walked into the main outside area of the lab, pushing the gate wide open for the car to get through. Eren drove in first with Armin following after. Mikasa shut the gate behind them probably to keep out anything that might linger in the woods around them.

Eren kicked up the kickstand near the main entrance of the lab, keeping a side eye on Mikasa as she crossed the parking lot to them. Armin seemed to have followed suit, keeping the SUV close to the door in case they needed to bolt quickly.

“This is kinda exciting,” Connie said, jumping out of the SUV with Sasha following. “I feel like Indiana Jones except…not historical.”

“I’m pretty sure Indiana Jones never had to deal with the undead,” Sasha laughed.

“Yeah, mummies!...no wait that was Rick O’Connell.”

Jean still looked about as miserable as ever; Eren never quite felt safe when Jean had a gun strapped to his back.

“Okay,” Armin said, his own crossbow in his hands. “This place is pretty big but Eren, I think you’re right. Ymir either wanted to help you or trap you, but either way as long as we’re careful we can hopefully get some information here.”

“Yeah,” Connie said. “And everyone stay together. I’ve seen too many horror movies to know that one.”

“We should stick together at first,” Armin agreed. “We might be able to split up depending on just what we find inside.”

“If this place is crawling, we’re leaving immediately,” Jean grunted. “We also need a formation to make sure nothing jumps out at us.”

Well, that wasn’t such a bad idea Eren had to admit. If they just blazed in there, they had no idea what could attack them, and that was the last thing he wanted.

“Good idea,” Armin said. “Jean and Connie, you two will be in the center. We don’t want to fire off shots and attract anything that might not know we’re here. Eren and I will be in the front with one ranged and one close combat weapon, Sasha and Mikasa in the back for the same reason.”

Eren opened his mouth to object, not a particular fan of keeping Mikasa in the back where she could get grabbed but Armin seemed to catch it without Eren saying anything.

Armin looked over to Mikasa who had taken a spot by the door near Eren. “I don’t mean to shove you in the back like that; same to you Sasha, but both of you are more adept at picking up on noises. It would be easier for you to catch anything sneaking up easier than the rest of us.”

Both girls just nodded like they had no issues with it, so who was Eren to complain. “Ready?” he asked, reaching over to pull his bat out of Mikasa’s bag.

“Ready,” Armin said, holding his crossbow up as he stood next to Eren, the others following in form behind them. Despite, Armin’s confident words and his plans, Eren could still see the crossbow shaking in Armin’s hands. Eren put his hand on Armin’s shoulder as they approached the lab door.  Eren knew he would never be able to live with the guilt if he was walking them into a blood bath, but what other choice did they have? He pushed the door open with his shoulder and led everyone into the lab behind him.

It looked like a pretty basic waiting room; a reception desk with a large Star Labs sign over it, chairs and tables, brochures spilled on the floor, papers blowing in the breeze when the door opened. There was only one door leading out of this room, probably leading deeper in to the lab. The reception desk wouldn’t help, not when everything was logged in a computer which was still sitting there but judging by the way only sunlight from the windows was lighting the way, there hadn’t been electricity here for a while.

Eren nodded towards the door, letting them know they were moving on. As carefully and as quietly as he could, he pushed the door open and headed into the next section of the lab. It was darker in this hallway, not as many windows to light up the way. Eren gripped onto his bat, holding it in position in case something came up at them but so far, he couldn’t even hear a sound other than the others walking behind him.

There weren’t any doors down this hallway, no other rooms leading off to other areas which was good, no chances of Biters catching them off guard. Eren stopped in front of the door at the end of the hallway trying to listen for movements beyond it, but there was still nothing. He looked over to Armin who nodded, telling Eren he didn’t hear anything either. Eren pushed the swinging door open leading them into a much larger room, one that was clearly in a state of disarray. It looked more like an actual lab, in here but there had been quite a lot of struggle evident of the turned tables, the broken equipment, the files thrown everywhere, chairs toppled over.

“What the hell…” Connie said.

“There’s a suspicious lack of blood and guts,” Sasha said.  “These people must have gotten out alive.”

“You think it was ransacked?” Eren asked, looking back to her.

She shrugged. “At least here, I mean look at it. There’s no blood, no nothing.”

That certainly was the truth. Eren remembered how the front of the school had the most violence do to everyone trying to get out through the front. Why wasn’t it the same here? This place should have been a mess.

“We should keep moving,” Armin said. “Just in case.”

“Yeah,” Eren said, taking one more look around before leading them to the next hallway.

This place was probably the strangest Eren had seen since this whole thing started and it wasn’t even because of the Biters. It was the lack of them that made him nervous. Most all the rooms they looked in were the same: all different types of research labs and studies, and all of them torn apart but with no traces of any sorts of actual struggle.

“This place must have been abandoned long before the virus broke loose,” Eren sighed, leaning up against the wall of yet another hallway they had traveled down. “It doesn’t even look like a Biter has stepped foot in here.”

“It makes sense,” Armin said, his eyes scanning down a directory he found on the wall. “Except if this place was abandoned before it happened, how come all the equipment was left behind? Why wouldn’t they take it to another location or sell it? There’s thousands of dollars in here.”

“Then how come it doesn’t look like the virus even touch in here?” Jean asked, looking at least a little less sulky now that it seemed there was little to no danger.

Armin had his finger on the directory as he looked up to Eren, ignoring Jean’s question. “Dr. Grisha Jaeger Office 230.”

Eren nearly ran to where Armin was standing until he could see the shiny black letters, stating that at one point his father had worked here. “I don’t get it; he never talked about this place. How would he have worked here?”

“Maybe it was a while ago but…” Armin hesitated, glancing to Eren. “Judging by how current the equipment seems it’s hard to say.”

“Well, we need to go find the stairs or elevator or something and get up there. This could be what we’re looking for.” Eren was already trying to map back in his head to see if he remember if he saw anything on the way in.

“The stairs,” Connie spoke up. “The elevators…wouldn’t work.”

Eren barely even heard him. What if everything they needed was here, what if his dad was here? What if they could end this and just go back to the way their life was? He felt a hand on his shoulder causing him to jolt out of his thoughts.

Armin’s blue eyes met his. “We can’t rush into this, Eren. I know what you’re thinking but we don’t know what’s up there. Nor do I think all of us should go.”

“You’re gonna split us up?” Jean asked. “I’m pretty sure that’s the biggest no-no in survival.”

Armin looked over to the others and Eren knew that look in his eyes; he knew more than he was letting on. “Provided nothing goes wrong upstairs, this place seems safe enough to stay the night in. We can make a base down in the reception area where it would be easy to bolt should something happen. There’s only two doors to keep an eye on overnight so we should be fine.”

“Are you not concerned this isn’t a trap anymore?” Jean said. “Because it’s seeming that way more and more.”

“Well, if someone is on watch we still should be okay to get out in time,” Sasha said.

“I’m going upstairs,” Eren said leaning his bat against his shoulder.

Mikasa moved to stand next to Eren; her action showing who she intended to go with.

“Okay,” Armin said. “Sasha, do you remember the way back?” He paused until Sasha nodded in response. “Okay, good, you take Jean and Connie back. I’ll go with Eren and Mikasa upstairs.”

“Wouldn’t you be safer coming with us?” Sasha asked, her eyes sparkling with concern.

Armin shook his head. “I’ll be fine with them. Besides if there’s something, I might need to help them decipher it. Give us a half hour before anyone follows.”

Sasha nodded, gesturing for Connie and Jean to follow her. Connie went along with her but Jean had to give one last look before following.

“There’s stairs back here,” Armin said, nodding towards a door in the hallway but it wasn’t till the door shut completely behind them that Eren knew he could ask.

“Just what is it that you didn’t want to tell them?”

Armin pulled open another door that lead to a stairwell; he quickly glanced upwards before proceeding to the steps. “I don’t think this place was abandoned before the virus broke out. I think this place was abandoned right before or when it happened.”

“But there’s no trace of any Biters, how would it have been so close?” Mikasa asked though Eren noticed she was keeping her eyes below them, making sure nothing was following.

“I think the virus originated here.”

Eren nearly fell over. “You _what_?”

“Think about it, Eren. There’s absolutely no trace of Biters here. Not even a drop of blood but the whole place looks like a tornado went through it.” Armin stopped at the door at the top of the stairs. “Something must have gotten leaked and people bolted before it could affect them, not only that but I think someone came through here searching for the same things we are which is why everything is in such disarray.”

“My dad?” Eren asked, his heart pounding in his chest.

“I guess we’ll find out,” Armin said, gesturing for Eren to go first through the door.

Eren placed his hand on the handle of the door; all their answers could be down this hallway. He hesitated before opening it. Or their deaths. He tried to listen to see if he could hear anyone, both living or dead, behind the door but he couldn’t hear anything. Eren hoped that was a good thing.

He pushed open the door, bat held up just in case, but the hallway looked identical to the ones downstairs; both in how they looked and how empty they were. Eren nodded for Armin and Mikasa to follow as he stepped out into the second floor. It didn’t look quite as big as the downstairs and the rooms he peered in seemed only to be offices, not labs. It also looked like someone had taken a leaf blower to every room; Armin’s theory was looking more and more to be true.

The hallway forked off into the three different paths, plaques telling them what numbered offices were where. Eren came to a stop, the others standing next to him. They really should look in every room for clues but at the same time if someone already came through here, what clues would’ve been left? No, they needed to go straight to the source.

“It’s this way,” Armin said, gesturing down the left hallway. “Offices  220-240.”

Eren turned down the hallway, watching the plaques countdown office numbers and names he had never heard before. His dad wasn’t always open about his work which was generally because it took someone like Armin to understand anything his dad was researching. Still, Eren knew the names of his dad’s colleagues, Moblit the security guard, Petra the receptionist; Eren had been to his dad’s lab dozens of times with Armin and Mikasa too. This place though, this lab, these people’s names, the virus, none of this made sense. Why would his dad keep this from them? Did his mom even know?

“Stop,” Mikasa said, her voice low enough to make Eren freeze. “Don’t move.”

Armin was next to him, Mikasa right behind them. Eren risked a quick glance behind to see her looking back down the hallway. He couldn’t see anything but that didn’t mean Mikasa didn’t hear something; his hands gripped onto his bat.

Sword held firmly in front of her she walked down the hallway the way they had come, not even making a noise herself. She peered down the fork in the hallways but since she wasn’t jumping into the action, Eren assumed there was nothing there. Still, if Mikasa heard something, it unnerved him; she wasn’t one to just hear things.

She started to head back, her body more relaxed this time. “Not even a shadow moving.”

Eren watched her as she came to stand behind him. He knew that look, that frustrated and unconvinced look; she had heard something. Just because she didn’t see anything didn’t mean they were alone. They needed to do this quickly.

“Eren,” Armin said.

Eren looked up to see Armin standing a few doors away from him, pointing to a plaque.

“It’s your dad’s.”

Eren walked the short distance to see “Grisha Jaeger” carved right into the gold plate. He ran his fingers over the words before pushing the door open and stepping inside. It looked about as messy as any of the other offices which told Eren it had been ransacked too and there was no sign of his father anywhere. Granted, he really didn’t expect his dad to just be sitting at his desk or something, but Eren’s heart still sunk at the sight.

“I don’t know if there’s anything left but we should try to take a look around,” Armin said stepping past Eren deeper into the office covered in papers and tipped over filing cabinets.

“I’ll keep an eye on the door,” Mikasa said, leaning up against the doorway so she could watch both inside and outside the office.

Eren moved to the logical place to start: his dad’s desk. He pushed around piles of papers that were strewn around but they all seemed like notes, lab results, office notes, nothing seemed out of the ordinary that Eren hadn’t seen in his dad’s office at home all the time. Sure it was all medical but nothing looked like it could be connected to the virus, at least that he could tell. Maybe Armin should just look over the whole place and Eren could go keep watch with Mikasa.

He was about to do just so when his hand brushed over something that was too hard and too lumpy to be more papers. He pushed the papers aside to see a fallen frame; the glass was cracked the picture behind it had a smile pulling at his lips. It was him, Armin, and Mikasa when they were kids; Eren was in the middle with his arms around the both of them, big toothy smiles on all their faces. His dad kept this picture of them on his desk. Eren had no idea what his father was doing here, but it couldn’t have been something bad, it couldn’t have been. Not if his dad had a picture of them there as a reminder.

Eren flipped the frame over to pull the picture out but when he popped the tabs up to remove the back, something metallic fell to the desk. He pocketed the picture and reached down to pick up a small key. “Armin,” Eren said, holding up the key as Armin turned to look. “Found any locked cabinets?”

Armin quickly moved across the room, taking a look at the key now resting in Eren’s palm. “It’s too small to be a file cabinet key. Where did you find that?”

Eren gestured to the picture that now laid out of the frame on the desk. “Do you think he was hiding it?”

Armin got that far away look in his eyes as he thought. “Judging by the state of this place I would say he definitely was hiding it. But where does it go to…”

Eren didn’t have the faintest idea really; he supposed it had to go somewhere though where, he didn’t know. He glanced up around the room. A small key, where would a small key go. He tapped his fingers against the wooden desk. Not a filing cabinet Armin had said and it was far too small for a door. A safe maybe? Where would a safe be even in here though?

He went to move to look around the room but his foot got caught on the foot of the desk, knocking him down to the floor.

“Are you okay?” Mikasa called from her spot, her face leaning over Armin’s as they watched Eren.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he grunted, pushing himself up to stand up and grab his fallen bat, but something caught his eye first: a small key hole in the desk. A desk key. Eren pulled at the drawer and it opened, just papers in it. He shut it and opened up the next one.

Armin seemed to get the same idea as he started opening and searching through the drawers on his side of the desk until he suddenly stopped. “Eren, c’mere.”

He pushed himself up to his feet and walked the short distance to where Armin was looking over an open door, Mikasa had taken her spot at the door again. “What? Did you find something?” It sure didn’t look like anything when Eren looked in, just a drawer with some office supplies.

“It’s higher than the other drawers.” Armin placed a hand on the bottom of the drawer. “It’s fake.” He pressed his hand down in what seemed like a rather specific way causing the side of the wood to pop up. He grabbed it and lifted it up revealing another wooden bottom but this one had a small key hole in it.

“What would I do without you,” Eren said as he placed the key in his fingers, pushing it into the lock. He turned it and he could hear a small clicking noise. Armin pulled the first fake bottom out of the drawer as Eren pressed down on the new bottom of the drawer like Armin had. It popped up and with a shaking hand, Eren pulled it off.

Laying in the drawer was an old brass key with black string attached to it. Eren reached out to grab it, the metal cold on his fingers.

He could see his father standing in front of him, looking more distressed than Eren had seen him in a long time. He had his hands grasping onto Eren’s shoulders, his eyes intense on Eren.

“Dad? What’s the matter?” Eren could hear himself ask, but it sounded distant. He couldn’t tell where they were, a lab room of sorts. Maybe his dad’s office?

“Just listen to me, Eren, please just listen to me.” He reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a key. “I need you to find this key, Eren. When the time comes I need to you find this key.”

“It’s just a key. Why can’t you just give it to me now?”

His dad shook his head. “No, Eren, you need to find it when the time is right. You’ll know when.”

“Stop being so cryptic. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Eren,” his dad said again. “Eren, promise me.”

A warm hand on his back. “Eren?”

He snapped his head up from the desk to see Armin and Mikasa watching him carefully. “What?” Eren asked, glancing down at the key still in the desk.

“You just zoned out pretty bad.” Armin looked concerned. “Is everything okay?”

Eren blinked at him. Was everything okay? What had he even been thinking about? “Yeah, yeah, its fine.” He reached down and grabbed the key, pulling it out. “We should get back down, don’t want the others to worry.” He slipped it over his head and tucked the key down his shirt, the cool metal against his chest. Somehow he knew the lock to this key was nowhere in this building.

Armin didn’t look convinced but he nodded, heading back over to where Mikasa was waiting. Eren grabbed his bat off the floor where he had fallen and went to meet them in the hallway. The walk was quiet, making sure the halls were still empty, which they seemed to be. It wasn’t until the stairwell that anyone spoke.

“I don’t think we should tell the others about the key,” Mikasa said. “It’s not that I don’t trust them,” she said before Eren could interject. “But the less people who know the better.”

“I’d agree with that,” Armin said. “Even if it’s an accident or in a worst case, it gets forced out. It’s better to leave as many people as we can out of this. If this place is any indication, there are people out there looking for something and obviously, we found something they didn’t.”

Well, Eren couldn’t exactly argue with that. He could still feel the metal resting on his skin; they didn’t even know where this key led to let alone what was behind that door. It was better to keep it to themselves.

Nothing seemed to be popping out at them as they made their way back to the main lobby, but Mikasa still seemed on edge. Eren could see her glancing behind them every so often, but she never voiced her concerns so he had to assume it was nothing, even though he knew it wasn’t. The faster they got back to the safe room, the better in his opinion. Thankfully, it didn’t take long until Sasha was waving frantically at them when they opened the door.

“There you guys are!” she said, though Armin motioned for her to keep it down. “Did you find anything? she asked in a much quieter voice.

Armin shook his head as he moved to sit down next to Connie. “Nah, it was just as ransacked as the rest of the building.”

“What about Dr. Jaeger’s office?” Jean asked, his arms already across his chest.

“Still nothing. Whoever got here before us did a job on that office.”

Connie opened his mouth to say something about what they had done but Eren didn’t pay attention; he turned his attention back to Mikasa who was still standing close to the door, her grip hard on her sword.

He leaned in closer to her trying to keep the others out of it. “What’s wrong and don’t try telling me it’s nothing. You noticed something didn’t you?”

Mikasa glanced to everyone sitting down before looking back to Eren. “Something or someone followed us the whole way down.”

Eren’s grip tightened on his bat as his heart leapt into his throat. “We have to get outta here.”

“Wait.” She grabbed a hold of his shoulder before he could turn away. “It’s not a Biter. The steps were very deliberate. Every time I turned around they moved out of sight where a Biter wouldn’t have cared.”

“Someone else is here.”

Mikasa nodded. “I’m not sure if it’s the same person who tore apart the building but I heard them on the second floor and they followed us when we left.”

“What are you two going on about over there?” Jean grunted in a tone that made Eren very much want to throw something at Jean’s head.

“None of your business,” Eren growled back.

Jean who didn’t quite seem to expect that response, looked like he was about to bite back when Sasha jumped to her feet, her eyes on the door.

“Shut up all of you,” she said, reaching for an arrow out of her quiver. “There’s footsteps in the hall.”

The room went silent and the sets of footsteps could easily be heard, getting closer by the moment. Eren took a step back from the door, trying to drag Mikasa back with him but she was still staring out the small window in the door trying to see who was out there. She held up three fingers on her hand.

Eren could hear the others reaching for their weapons, preparing for the worst.

“Hey, hey,” a muffled voice said from behind the door. “I promise we’re not here to hurt you.” It sounded like a man with a deep voice but no voice that Eren recognized. “We have our weapons put away and our hands up.”

Mikasa glanced through the window and nodded to Eren, letting him know the man was telling the truth.

“We just came here for shelter. That’s all.”

“Let them in,” Eren said, but he didn’t drop his stance just in case.

Mikasa pushed open the door revealing a blonde man who looked like he could take them all down with just his hands alone.

“I’m Reiner,” the blond man said as he stepped inside the room, his hands still up. “Like I said we just were finding shelter here when we heard you guys upstairs. This is Bertholdt,” Reiner stepped aside and a younger looking guy had to duck under the doorway he was so tall, his hands were raised too. “And this is-”

Eren dropped his bat so his side. “Annie?”

The blonde woman who stepped in next didn’t look too surprised at his sudden exclamation of her name, but Mikasa sure did.

“How do you know her?” she asked, a mix of confusion and surprise on her face.

To be honest, Eren felt the same. “I have no idea.”


	9. The Titans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Titans
> 
> Summary: So these strangers aren’t quite strangers after all, and more eyes and hands should always be welcome; that doesn’t mean everyone feels at ease with the new additions. Regardless, if these guys were staying here, the lab has to be safe…right?  
> Pairing: Eren/Mikasa & Implied Connie/Sasha  
> Rating: M (Strong language and violence)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you guys, shit is going down. Still, I finally get to write these next few chapters which I’ve been looking forward to for months! Me and Jason should have the next chapter out pretty soon (almost finished writing it) for you all and for my dear shippers, you guys are about to get a lot of eremika feels coming real soon. You’ll see, I’m sure, why in this one ;3

It was the strangest feeling; to see someone standing in front of Eren’s eyes, recognizing her and knowing her name but knowing nothing else about her including how he even knew who she was.

“Eren?” Armin asked, looking up with concerned eyes.

It was only then Eren realized he had been rubbing his temples.

“Glad to know I left such an impression on you, Jaeger,” Annie said in that toneless voice that was so familiar but Eren just couldn’t place it.

“Leave him alone,” Mikasa said, her voice low telling Eren was wasn’t a fan of the new people in the room. “It’s been a very long week if you hadn’t noticed.”

“Mikasa, it’s fine.” He glanced over to tell her to knock off the attitude. “I’m really sorry, Annie, but how _do_ we know each other?”

Annie crossed her arms against her chest. “Our fathers worked together at the lab.”

Flashes of memory flickered in his head of playing in the woods with a blonde girl with ice blue eyes and who rarely smiled. The woods were different from the ones he played with Armin and Mikasa in though, the lab in the distance of his memory different…

“At this lab?” Eren asked, his heart leaping into his throat.

“Obviously. Why do you think I brought them here?” She gestured to Reiner and Bertholdt. “I knew it would be safe. I assume you did the same.”

“Yeah,” Eren swallowed. “That’s why.”

Annie watched him for a moment longer before looking away, leaving nothing but a tense silence between them. After all, Eren was the one who forgot someone who obviously remembered him just fine; it was a bit on the awkward side.

Reiner cleared his throat. “Well, since you two seem to know each other, mind if we stick around for a bit? It’s been a while since we’ve been around anyone but us three.” He chuckled but it was unsure, like he knew what he was asking could be inappropriate.

“Do you remember, Eren?” Sasha asked brightly, but it was pretty clear she and everyone was waiting for him to speak on the matter.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “It’s vague but I remember when we used to play together here when our dads worked together. You guys are welcome to stay here tonight, we’re gonna head out in the morning.”

“Thanks man.” Reiner clapped his hands together and took a seat where Connie and Sasha were sitting. “These two.” Reiner gestured back to Annie and Bertholdt who were sitting down next to him. “Say one word a piece every hour it’s nice to be around people again.”

Annie elbowed him in the arm when she sat down getting a yelp out of Reiner but Bertholdt just stayed silent.

Eren ran a hand through his hair and turned towards the outside door, making it look like he was just gonna do a check but really he needed to get away from the stares. Connie and Sasha seemed to be okay, casually chatting and introducing everyone to the new trio but Jean’s eyes were practically boring into Eren, asking what the hell he thought he was doing. Granted, Mikasa wouldn’t even look at him.

Annie. Yeah, he remembered once she said something. She was the only other kid here in the summers so they were sent off together, but why didn’t Eren remember this place when they first got here? Hell, he didn’t even know his dad worked here but now all of a sudden he did?

Eren rubbed his hand over his face; his head was starting to throb again.

“You holding up okay?” Armin’s quiet voice made Eren look up. “This must be a lot.” Armin was leaning up against the door intentionally keeping his voice lower than Reiner’s boisterous one.

“Do you remember her or this place?” Eren asked. “I mean, you and Mikasa were always with me.”

“Not always, Eren.” Armin shook his head. “No, I’ve never seen her or this place before today and judging by how much Mikasa doesn’t trust them already I’d bet she’s the same.”

Eren glanced over to see Mikasa staring out the door window that led into the lab, her arms crossed tightly against her chest. “This just…it puts me here. I remember being here now. Why couldn’t I before?”

Armin looked thoughtful for a moment, looking off to the distance. “There could be a few reasons, the simplest being you don’t always remember things and people from childhood.”

“The complex reason being?”

Armin only shook his head; Eren wasn’t sure whether it was because Armin didn’t know or didn’t want to talk about it in front of everyone.

“So where’re you guys headed to?” Reiner asked catching Eren’s attention.

“The city,” Connie said brightly, like they weren’t about to walk into a blood bath.

Bertholdt choked, making it the first time Eren thought the tall boy made a noise. “Are you looking for a death wish? Why would you go there?”

Connie seemed to realize he might have said too much and looked around at the others for help.

“We’re looking for Dr. Jaeger,” Jean said, sounding about as casual as he could with the info. “His mom was pretty upset about it and this genius over here decided to play hero and go look for his dad. We came along to make sure he didn’t get himself killed.”

Eren made a mental note to thank Jean for that very nice lie one day.

“Eren, if he’s in the city,” Reiner said. “Then he’s as good as dead already and if you guys take one step in there you guys will be too.”

“It’s our own business where we go,” Mikasa said coolly, looking over to the others.

“Is she always like that?” Reiner leaned into Connie who shook his head quickly but it looked a little forced on his part like he was afraid of what Mikasa would do if he said otherwise.

“Annie?” Eren said, getting everyone’s attention in the room. He didn’t care though; something had crossed his mind. “You said your dad worked here too, have you seen him since it happened?”

She looked up from the ground . “I haven’t seen my dad since long before this shit happened.”

Eren tried not to cringe; that had been the wrong thing to ask. “I’m sorry, I didn’t me-”

“Its fine,” she shrugged. “I came here in part to see if maybe he had too, which you being here makes more sense if you’re looking for your dad. We just ended up staying a few days since it seemed safer than being on the road.”

 “Is it safe here?” Jean asked, arching an eyebrow. He clearly was still sticking to his guns that this place was a trap.

“We didn’t find anything,” Reiner said. “Well, aside from the whole place being ransacked which I’m sure you guys noticed; it was like that when we got here a couple days ago. We’ve been spending most of the time upstairs just because there’re more facilities and less locked doors.”

“Locked doors never lead to good things,” Bertholdt muttered.

“You don’t have to tell us,” Sasha said.

Really, these three were the first any of them met on the road, aside from that first day with Jean…and Marco. Ymir and Historia set up a place to survive; they weren’t travelling. While Annie had said they had been staying here for a few days obviously they had traveled to get here. They probably saw a lot of the same types of things Eren and the others with him had. Maybe it would be okay to trust them.

“We haven’t heard or seen anything out of the unusual though,” Annie said, continuing Reiner’s thoughts. “That’s the only reason we’ve been here so long better than being out there with those things trying to eat you every five minutes.”

“It’s getting dark. We should be getting rest if we’re getting up at dawn.” Mikasa voice was sharper than usual. “You three can stay but we’re leaving in the morning.” Her voice clearly stated Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie were not part of that “we”.

 

“Mikasa,” Eren snapped, already tired of her shitty attitude. “Leave them alone, they’ve been through enough shit too.”

Her eyes narrowed but she didn’t move from her spot. “I’ll take first watch.”

“Fine.” Eren took a seat by the front door, Armin following suit and ignoring the fact Mikasa still had Eren’s bag with her. Yeah, Eren might have known Annie when they were kids and it’s not like he was about to trust them with their deepest secrets. He did trust them enough not to be on edge with them here, to not think they were gonna ambush them in the night or something. They were just kids, kids lost like they all were. Everyone else seemed to know how to be friendly with to them; he had no idea what Mikasa’s damn problem was.

Sasha and Connie were laid out on the ground; their breathing already rhythmic showing how exhausted they all must have been from today. Jean was laying ion his back, eyes closed but not asleep yet while Annie, Reiner and Bertholdt curled up on the other side of the room.

“Try and get some sleep, Armin,” Eren said to the blond who was still sitting up next to him.

“Something isn’t right,” he said, keeping his voice as low as possible.

Eren turned to look at him. “With what? This place?” he hesitated. “Or our company?”

Armin shook his head. “I don’t know just…somethings off.”

Eren bit down on his lower lip. He wasn’t one not to listen to Armin but at the same time what could they do? “Just try and sleep it off okay? Mikasas got watch she won’t let anything happen to us and we’ll be gone in the morning.”

Armin nodded but he didn’t look convinced as he laid down on the carpeted floor. Eren rolled his head back against the door; they had searched the place, well save for the locked doors like Reiner said, but there was nothing here. Plus, Annie and them had been here for days they said so it had to be safe; they wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t. Maybe Armin was just worried. After all, almost every place they had stayed in since the first lab had been a disaster.

“You should sleep too.”

Eren looked up to see Mikasa leaning her body against the door he was sitting in front of; he hadn’t even heard her move. He was tempted to do just that and let her have her attitude problems. She was the one who was overreacting over nothing; let her stew in it all night if that’s what she wanted.

He couldn’t though, not with Armin’s uncertainty still in his mind and the flashes of when he could’ve died, the last thing he told her was that he didn’t need her. This wasn’t the time and place for petty fights. He sighed. “Alright, sit down. What’s your problem?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit, Mikasa. Do you know how well I know you? Sit down please.”

She slid down against the door till she was sitting next to him, though she was looking at anywhere but him.

“What’s the matter?” He dropped his voice as to not alert the whole room when they were trying to sleep.

 “I just don’t trust them,” she murmured. “They snuck around us and then claim to know you and your dad? It’s suspicious. I don’t think we should stick around them.”

“I do remember her though, she’s telling the truth about that’s at least so really they haven’t been dishonest with us at all.” He spoke in a lower tone. “I’m not saying we need to tell them everything but I don’t see why we can’t be relaxed around them.”

She merely shrugged but Eren knew there was something else she wasn’t telling him.

“I understand being hesitant, but why so resistant? I know you’re wary of people you don’t know in general, but not even giving them a chance? That’s not like you.”

Mikasa was quiet for a moment, her eyes dropping to the floor. “Why didn’t you tell us about her?”

Eren’s forehead furrowed. “What do you mean? I didn’t even remember her till she showed up here.”

“No, I mean, when you knew her as a kid…why didn’t you tell Armin…or me that you were friends with her?”

It seemed so silly that he almost laughed but the look on Mikasa’s face told him that she was actually hurt over it. The pieces started to click together. “Mikasa Ackerman, don’t tell me you’re jealous?”

She hit him in the shoulder. Hard.

“Jesus,” he choked, but it was more to cover that he was laughing now. “I’m being serious. Are you jealous that I knew another girl growing up and that I never told you about her?”

Her silence was all he needed to know.

“Mikasa.” He was about to tell her that really was ridiculous, that he didn’t even remember Annie for God knows how many years when he obviously he remembered Mikasa; she was the one he was always with since they were kids. He didn’t get the chance though, not when a distant noise had him on his feet. “Did you hear that?” he breathed but he didn’t have to ask, she was already on her feet next to him; staring at the door leading to the lab.

“Guys?” Sasha’s voice was steady; she was the only one in the room alert on the floor.

“We’ll go look,” Eren said quietly, not wanting to freak everyone out in case it was just a raccoon or something.

Sasha nodded but made no move to go back to sleep.

Eren picked up his bat off the floor before he carefully pushed open the door which would lead him and Mikasa back to the lab. The main hallway was empty and silent, so he went through the next door which opened up to the rest of the lab. Another noise; this time it was closer and sounded more like a crash, like things were falling over.

“It could be an animal,” Eren said, opening another doorway to a hallway full of doors that lead to more lab rooms. They had checked this hallway, all the rooms had been looked through except, well, except the locked doors. There weren’t too many but they didn’t even bother because if something was in there, it would be locked in. Eren wasn’t so sure now though.

This time the noise sounded more like something was getting thrown against a wall or heavy steps up stairs; it was a thump, then silence, then a thump again.

Eren tried to ignore his pounding heart as he looked around the hall for the source of the sound.

Another thump.

“Eren.” Mikasa’s voice was firm, her hands tight against the hilt of her sword.

Another thump, this time with some wood cracking.

“Eren, we need to go.”

A door on the opposite side of the hallway flew across the hall and hit the wall. What stepped out wasn’t a Biter, no, it was at least twice the size of any Biter Eren had ever seen. It was wearing ragged clothing but it didn’t look human, not any more.

Eren was frozen to the spot, gaping at the creature that was staring at the broken door. It must’ve realized it wasn’t alone because it turned its dark eyes towards and Eren and Mikasa. It didn’t come after them right away it just stared, like it was sizing them up.

A jolt of horror went through Eren’s body. This thing wasn’t mindless. Another was stepping out of the doorway, a female.

Holy fuck.

“Run,” Eren hissed through clenched teeth.

Mikasa turned and Eren followed, their feet pounding against the tile floor but theirs weren’t the only feet the heard. Those things were coming, and they weren’t limping or dragging; they were walking, they were keeping up. They weren’t mindless.

Holy shit. What the fuck was going on. Eren didn’t have time to wonder. He nearly shoved Mikasa through every door trying to get her and him as far away from those things as humanly possible. They needed to get out. They needed to get out now. He shut every door the passed through, trying to delay those creatures but judging by the sounds coming from behind them, it wasn’t working well.

Shit. Shit. _Shit._

He ran down the last hallway with Mikasa by his side and threw open the door.

Everyone must have been alerted by the commotion because there were all on their feet, weapons drawn.

“Run!” Eren shouted before anyone could even ask.

Armin pulled open the front door and held it but Eren pushed him outside taking the door and gesturing for people to move it. It was dark out, but the moon was high enough for there to be some light.

“Jean, get the car!” Eren said as Jean bolted after Armin, for once listening to Eren.

“Biters?” Sasha asked as she stopped right outside the door, bow drawn.

Eren grabbed a hold of Mikasa’s arm and pulled her through the doorway while Connie squeezed by to stand by Sasha. Eren didn’t even know what tell her or how to say “no, worse”. He didn’t need to though, not when one of those creatures broke down the door as Reiner was pushing Annie and Bertholdt out.

“Oh my God,” Sasha said, backing up with wide eyes staring inside.

Eren slammed the door behind him. “Get in the car! We need to go!” The gate was still open from Jean; the head lights of the SUV shining across the parking lot and the outside of Star Labs. At least they got the SUV out of the gates in time. Armin was already there with him but standing off to the side just watching in disbelief.

The creature tore off the lab door and stepped outside, two more behind it. They would be completely fucked if they didn’t get out of here right now. Eren stopped on the other side of the gate, holding it open while his friends ran through it towards the car.

Sasha shot arrows towards the creature’s heads like she would with a Biter instead of taking them down  it only seemed to make them mad; she quickly turned and bolted towards the gate.

Mikasa was the one still hovering by his side, not leaving to get in the SUV not that he figured she would.

“Go,” Eren said. “Get by the bike, I need to lock this gate.” That seemed to work, she was already running towards where Armin must have moved it outside the gate. He slammed the gate shut ready to lock it up, but the back of a head caught his attention; not everyone was out.

“Connie!” Sasha cried. “Connie, stop!”

“N-No, let me buy us some time!” He was slowly backing up away from the bastards that had their eyes on him, his gun drawn in front.

Eren had no idea what Connie was even still doing in there; Eren thought everyone had gotten out already. “Connie! Get your ass outta there!” He opened the gate again when Connie didn’t drop the gun and just run. What the hell was he thinking? He couldn’t buy them anytime being an idiot like that.

A gunshot rang in his ears causing Eren to halt in his tracks but it barely did a thing to the creature; it only made it reach a hand out to grab Connie by the neck.

“No!” Eren shouted as he started to run towards Connie again but it only mixed with other cries behind him. It was too late. Connie’s own strangled cry cut off with a sickening crack, his body falling lifelessly to the ground.

Eren’s stomach lurched. He was too late. Connie. No…no, that couldn’t be…but his body never moved.

“No!” Sasha’s voice snapped Eren out of his daze, firing arrows at a rapid speed as she ran past him towards the bastards who were still walking towards them. Not running, just walking, like they had all the fucking time in the world to toy with them.  “You bastards!” she sobbed. “You…you…” She let out a scream as she shot. If she didn’t stop she was going to get killed too.

He refused to let that happen. Not again. “Drive!” he shouted towards Jean who was standing in utter disbelief near the driver’s side open door. “Get the hell outta here!” Mikasa was the only one not standing near the SUV; he knew she’d wait there for him but Eren needed to get Sasha right now. “Take Mikasa and go!” He turned around and ran towards Sasha.

“Eren!” Mikasa cried, her voice cutting through him; it was a horrible mix of terror and desperation. “No, Eren! I’m not leaving you here! Wait!” She let out a frustrated noise. “Stop! Don’t touch me! I’m not going!”

He looked over his shoulder to see Reiner carrying her back to the SUV, a look of fear and panic on her face as she tried to get out of the larger man’s grasp. The way she was crying out for Eren made his heart sink, like he was abandoning her but she’d be safe with them. He had to let her go.

Eren heard the door shut and tires squeal against parking lot by the time he reached Sasha. The headlights headed down the side road before they completely disappeared. He grabbed Sasha by waist, hoisting her up off her feet.

“No!” she shouted and tried to fight as Eren ran back towards the gate but she just dissolved into tears instead.

He didn’t even have time to lock the gate; the bastards were already too close and sounded pissed off. He dropped Sasha on the back of the bike, tossing her his bat, and jumped on to start it up. The head light was flipped on and the kicked stand up. “Hold on!” he shouted and took off the moment he felt Sasha grasp onto his waist. He accelerated as much as he could down the dark side road that had led them there in the first place. What a fucking mistake. He should have never brought them here.

“Eren,” Sasha’s voice was soft against the roar of the engine. “They’re running.”

He glanced behind them and sure enough those fucking bastards were running at a speed he had never seen Biters run before. He turned onto the main road, tires skidding across the pavement and drove as fast as he could straight down the road. What the fuck. What the fuck was happening? How were they so big? How could they be even semi intelligent? Clearly they were driven by more than just blood lust because they didn’t even try to eat…Eren felt like he was going to throw up. He just had to keep driving, he had to keep Sasha safe now, he had to find the SUV.

“We lost them.”

“Are you positive?”

“Yeah, I watched them turn around and go back.”

“All three?”

“Yeah.”

Eren slowed down the bike and pulled off to the side of the road. He knew he shouldn’t, not when it was so dark out but he had to stop, he needed to think, to plan; he propped the bike up and pushed himself to his feet. He ran his hands through his hair still trying to process what was going on. God, he wished Armin was here right now, he’d know what to say but he got out. The SUV was nowhere in sight; they were separated but they were safe.

“God dammit.” Eren snapped forcefully kicking a rock off the side of the road. “God fucking dammit. What the hell were those things? There’s no way in hell they were just biters.”

Sasha was quiet for a moment never moving from the bike. “Titans.”

Eren looked over to her. “What?”

“Titans, from Greek Mythology. They were large beings who wreaked havoc on humans.” She made a choked noise. “Killed them.”

He moved back to the bike to pull Sasha into a hug as she cried. He couldn’t imagine losing Mikasa and Armin; what Sasha must be feeling, he just…he couldn’t imagine. “We’ll head to the hospital like planned. The others will be there or on route.”

“How to you know?” she sniffled. “We never made a separation plan. We should’ve made a separation plan. Why-” Her voice broke.

Eren didn’t know if they would or not honestly, but it was the one place they had all planned to go so he had to hope they’d go there too. The last thing Eren heard was Mikasa crying for him; he could only see her fearful face, Armin’s stricken eyes. How could he leave them not knowing if he was dead or alive? Sure, he was immune to getting bitten, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t immune to his bones breaking. 

He rubbed Sasha’s back as she cried onto his shoulder. They needed to find his dad more than ever now before more people died…more people Eren couldn’t save.


	10. The Division

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Division
> 
> Summary: No one could've expected it, least of all Mikasa who rarely spent a day without Eren nearly her whole life let alone suddenly being separated in a world that had just gotten even more dangerous. She wouldn't leave him behind though, not when Eren never would've left her behind but no one else seems to understand her. Why don't they understand why they have to go back?  
> Pairing: Eren/Mikasa  
> Rating: T (Language)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should've apologized in advance for that last chapter. I'm sorry you guys I love you all ;-; You all are in for a few chapters nearly full of shippy feels though to make up for it! Also there is a POV change here. Since the group is split for the next few chapters will switch between Mikasa and Eren so you'll be aware of what both parties are doing. This one is all Mikasa so the next chapter will be Eren and the next Mikasa and ect until they are all reunited again (cause they will be don't worry lol).

They left him…how could they've left him? Connie was…Connie was…

The SUV flew down the street, far from the lab and far from Eren. It took Mikasa a moment to realize there were tears on her cheeks, Reiner's arms holding her body still in the backseat.

"Turn around!" she tried to shout but her voice was hoarse. "You have to…we have too…we can't leave them!"

No one else spoke. Not Armin in the front seat, not Jean at the wheel, not Reiner, Bertholdt, or Annie. No one.

Mikasa threw her body at the front of the car but Reiner held her firmly. "How can you just leave him to die!" she cried. Didn't they see? Why didn't they understand? "How can you!"

"Because he fucking told me too!" Jean snapped, his knuckles white on the steering wheel. "What was-" His voice cracked. "What was I supposed to do? He told me to leave. He told me."

The SUV was still driving forward.

"Turn around!" Mikasa cried, desperation churning her stomach. "We can't leave them! We can't leave Er…" Her voice choked on a sob. What were they doing?

"Reiner?" Armin's voice was soft, calm. "Will you switch seats with me?"

Mikasa barely noticed the boys changing seats, her face had already fallen into her hands. They left him. They left him there to die. She didn't look up until she felt a familiar arm around her shoulder, a hand reaching for hers.

"It's gonna be okay." Armin's voice was still calm but she heard the waver in it.

"How?" Her eyes were blurry as she looked up. "We left him to die. You saw…you saw what those things did."

"We didn't leave him, Mikasa. He told us to leave because he knew we'd never make it out if we stayed."

"We have to go back."

"I want to, believe me I do, but we can't. You know we can't."

Mikasa opened her mouth to fight again, but Armin gave her a squeeze, his head falling against hers.

"Eren's a good fighter and I know how much you always want to keep him safe but he's strong, I know you know that. He'll get himself and Sasha outta there and we will find them."

Armin was right, he always was but that didn't stop the ache in her chest. "Why didn't he let me stay with him?" Her voice was so small she almost didn't hear herself.

"That's easy. He wanted to know you'd be okay, to make sure you're safe." Armin tugged on the scarf around her neck. "That's what he does isn't it?"

She couldn't have choked back her sob if she tried. She felt Armin's body shake next to her, and she wasn't sure if the tears on her face were hers or his.

"Jean, try turning left in a bit," Reiner said from his spot up front.

"Why? We can't stop." Jean's voice was still strained.

"We need to." Reiner gestured to the SUV. "We cannot move on like this, plus we need a plan; three…two of your friends are MIA."

Mikasa looked up towards the front and saw Jean clench his jaw; he was torn.

"Reiner's right," Armin cleared his throat making the choice. "We need a moment to gather ourselves. Is there a place you know?"

He nodded. "We stopped on the way to the lab. It was a house out in the woods but it was clear when we were there."

"Will it be safe with those things out there?" Annie asked, her voice a bit more quiet than usual.

Armin glanced out the back window. "Nothing's following us that I can see so I would assume it's okay but it's hard to say. They were much smarter than the Biters we're used to." He hesitated. "Still, we need to stop and rest. Jean can't keep driving like this, none of us can. We need to get off the road even just for a few hours."

"No," Mikasa said, trying to keep her voice steady. "Eren can't find us if we aren't on the road."

Armin rubbed her back but didn't acknowledge her comment. "Follow Reiner's directions, Jean."

Jean nodded and turned to where Reiner was pointing when they got closer.

"I'm sorry," Armin said, resting his head against Mikasa's again. "But we're in more danger on the road right now."

She stared down at her hands in her lap; the road got bumpy underneath the tires probably because they turned down some back road that led to God knows where. Mikasa didn't like it, she hated it. How could Eren find them tucked away back here? How would they ever know if he was even still alive? If Sasha was alive? Why the hell didn't they think of a damn separation plan? Why why why.

The SUV halted, headlights illuminating an old house; one probably abandoned before all this shit happened.

"I know it doesn't look like much but there's plenty of rooms," Reiner explained as he opened the passenger door. "I'll go in and check."

The door closed and Mikasa watched Reiner's retreating back through the window. Silence filled the car, Armin still rubbing her back gently. What the hell were they supposed to say after what they just saw…what they just lost?

"I need some air," Jean grunted finally prying his hands off the steering wheel and pushing the door open. He rushed outside without bothering to close the door; it didn't take much longer till the nauseating sound of him getting sick was heard.

What were they gonna do? Connie was…Mikasa had to swallow hard. Connie was dead and who knew if Eren and Sasha even made it out alive. They were all separated and they had no plan. How were they ever gonna be found now?

"I'm gonna check on Jean," Armin said softly, releasing his grip on her and squeezing by to leave the car through the side door Annie opened for him. Once Armin left, Annie seemed to follow and Bertholdt quickly went after her leaving Mikasa alone in the car.

"Are you coming?" Annie stuck her head back in the car, her tone as flat as ever. "Can't stay in there all night."

Mikasa wanted to do just that to spite the girl but Mikasa knew Armin would only worry and she didn't want that. She pushed herself through the SUV till her feet hit the ground and brushed by Annie without acknowledging her at all.

Armin was with Jean who was still hunched over, his hands on his knees. The cool air was refreshing from the stale air in the car but it didn't make Mikasa feel any better. She leaned up against the side of the car facing the house waiting for Reiner to give them the clear to enter. She wasn't sure if much would get rid of the ache in her chest, the sinking feeling in her stomach but she knew Armin was right; Mikasa had to believe Eren would fight his way out but he was gone…he was gone and she didn't know where he was. It was a feeling worse than when she found out her parents passed; she knew there was no questioning it there, people saw them die. Eren, though, he could still be alive, he could be right behind him but she didn't know…she might never know.

"Okay, guys." Reiner's voice made her jump; she didn't see him walking up. "Everything looks fine in there."

Annie started to the house first, Bertholdt trailing behind. Mikasa waited till Armin and Jean began to walk so she could follow behind with Reiner taking up the rear.

"There's plenty of beds and couches to sleep on," he said as they walked. "But we need a plan before anyone tries to sleep."

Mikasa stepped up the creaky porch stairs.

"I'm sure Armin is already on it," Jean mumbled tonelessly.

Bertholdt was holding the door open when she reached the house. It was just as big on the inside which wasn't too surprising; it was that it was so clean which surprised her. Maybe Reiner and them cleaned it when they stayed.

"I think I have some candles and matches," Armin said, shrugging his bag onto the coffee table in the living room while Bertholdt closed the front door.

It wasn't too dark due to the bright moonlight but Mikasa figured a little light might be beneficial for being stuck here at night. She sat down on the couch close to where Armin was searching through his back pack; the couch dipped when Jean sat down at the opposite end, propping his head up with his hand on the armrest.

Armin pulled out a few candle sticks and a box of matches. Had he been a Boy Scout? Mikasa couldn't remember, but he should've been if he wasn't. "Are there any cups in the kitchen?" he asked.

"I'll go check." Reiner walked out of the room to presumably the kitchen.

Mikasa reached behind her back to take off her sword but she nearly gasped aloud when she felt not only her sword but Eren's backpack as well; in all the chaos she forgot she still had it on. She carefully took the items off and placed the bag in her lap, the sword up against the couch so it was still in her reach. Mikasa pulled the bag close to her, placing her chin over the top. Her breath hitched when it still smelt like him.

"Got a few," Reiner said coming back towards them holding glass cups. Armin took them while Reiner went to stand near the armchair Annie was sitting in, Bertholdt sitting on the floor nearby.

Armin set the candles in the glasses that he set on the coffee table, lighting each on in turn. "Better?" he asked, standing back from the now flickering flames.

"Yeah, thanks," Jean said while Armin took a seat next to Mikasa.

It was a little brighter in the room but the way the candles flickered it made the shadows jump making the whole room look eerie. Mikasa looked over to Armin who had his eyes on the ground, his hands shaking in front of him; she reached out to grab ahold of one of his with hers. It wasn't just herself who was worried.

"What were those fucking things?" Jean asked, his voice still a little choked.

"I promise you guys we didn't see anything like that when we were there," Reiner sad holding his hands up. "We would've never stayed if we even had a hunch things like that existed."

"Have you seen anything like it before?" Annie asked them but her eyes were watching Armin in particular.

"No," Armin answered, leaning forward to lean his elbows against his thighs in though. "We've only seen the usual Biters up until that point."

"But what  _were_ they?" Jean asked again.

Mikasa looked to Armin who had that thoughtful look on his face, probably trying to work out an answer. She remembered what he said about the virus originating in Star Labs; did those monsters have to do with that?

"Mutants would be my guess," Armin said. "An advanced strain of the virus but whether that virus itself is mutating or it's a different virus all together I have no idea. Hopefully, we'll never have to see things like that again."

"But we know they're out there now." Bertholdt's voice was so soft Mikasa could barely hear him before silence settled again; as if everyone was trying to take in this information. It was a lot, a lot to know, a lot to think about. As if the world wasn't hell before.

"We need a plan," Annie said bluntly. "I take it none of you had one in case you got split up."

"We had other things on our minds," Mikasa bit but Armin put his hand over hers.

"We didn't and the fact of the matter is we've no way of knowing what they'll do and they've no way of knowing what we'll do."

"Do you think…they're still…you know," Bertholdt asked.

"Yes," Armin said without hesitation. "Eren's smart and so is Sasha; they're more than capable of getting themselves outta that situation. Thinking otherwise won't do anyone any good. We need to proceed like nothings changed."

"You can't mean still going into the city." Reiner's eyes were wide. "That close call wasn't good enough? After those monsters? You'd rather try and get killed again."

"This isn't about a death wish, this is about finding Sasha and Eren," Armin responded calmly; Mikasa was glad he could do so because Reiner's tone had her blood boiling. Did he think they were just about to abandon their friends?

"How do you even know that's where they'd go?" Annie asked, not looking very convinced. "What if they are out searching for us right now?"

"Eren isn't an idiot. Once he realizes we're out of the reach of catching up to us he won't try searching for us; it would be nearly impossible at this point. He'll keep heading for the hospital because that's what our destination is."

"This is suicide is what it is," Reiner grunted. "We won't be a part of it."

"You three are more than welcome to stay here," Armin shrugged. "But we're leaving in the morning. I won't abandon my friends, especially not when Eren risked his life to save us."

Mikasa felt a surge of pride in her chest; it's not like she expected Armin not to stand up for Eren but it made her proud to hear it. She remembered when Armin used to cower under anyone who questioned him, anyone who called him out, but the boy sitting next to her wasn't that shy, reserved little boy anymore; without him they would've all been dead for days.

"I figured you and Mikasa would," Reiner side. "You two seem close to Eren. Jean, are you okay with still walking into that city?"

She looked over to Jean, who had been quiet for the past few minutes; he still looked pale, like he was gonna be sick again. Despite the own fear and worry she was feeling, she couldn't help but feel bad for him. In a matter of days Jean had lost his parents, his best friend, and after choosing to come with them, he lost another friend. She wouldn't blame him if he wanted to get out while he still could.

"Sash is bound to be devastated." Jean's voice sounded dry. "I can't leave her alone too."

Reiner ran a hand through his short hair. "Well," he said, looking over to Annie who glanced back. "I can't fault you guys for being good friends even if I think you're insane." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Guess we should all get some rest if we're getting up early."

"Wait," Mikasa blurted when she saw both Bertholdt and Annie stand to their feet. "You're still coming with us?" She didn't like it. They were still strangers, just because Annie claimed to know Eren didn't mean shit. Mikasa didn't trust them and she did not want them coming with them any further.

"Why're you worrying about it? More hands to fight and eyes to watch." Annie had her arms crossed against her chest.

More ears to hear. Mikasa narrowed her eyes at the blonde.

"Don't get me wrong," Reiner said. "If its hell close to the city I'm getting my friends out of there first and foremost but I can't forget that Eren saved our lives too. We'll come with you as far as we can."

"Thank you," Armin said. "We'd never ask you to risk your lives for our choices."

Mikasa wanted to ask Armin what the hell he was thinking telling them it was okay, but Armin was always five steps ahead of all of them; she had to trust him too. Maybe she could talk to him in the morning away from the other's ears to see what he thought about all of this.

"We better get some rest," Bertholdt said. "It's gonna be a long day."

Wasn't that the truth. "I'll take watch."

Armin looked over to her, his eyes sharing with concern. "You should really sleep, Mikasa."

She shrugged. "I won't be able to sleep anyway."

Armin didn't look like he wanted to leave her but he stood to his feet before giving her a wave and following the other three upstairs.

"You should rest too, Jean," Mikasa glanced over to where he hadn't moved at all.

"Not like I can sleep either." He rubbed his face with his hands. "Granted I dunno if anyone can knowing what's outside."

Mikasa understood, she really did but what could they do about it now? They had to keep moving forward. They had to.

She looked down at the bag still tightly in her arms. Carefully, as if it was fragile, she unzipped the bag to look inside; it was so typical of Eren she nearly laughed. All that was there were some clothes tossed at the bottom and some food Armin must've tossed in to make sure Eren didn't starve. She reached down into the bag to pull out one the articles of clothing and found on one his long sleeved shirts in her hand. It was a little bit on the heavier side, something he wouldn't need in the middle of summer, probably just a shirt he pulled off his floor before they left.

Mikasa leaned her face down towards the fabric; it smelled just like him. At first it was a wave of comfort, of warmth filling her body as the ever familiar scent rushed over her; the one that was always there to make her feel better, make her feel safe. It was just a shirt though and there were no warm arms to hold her, no teasing words to make her laugh. It was just a shirt and the scent would fade leaving her with nothing more than a memory.

"He has no idea, huh?"

Jean's voice surprised her even though she knew he was sitting there. Mikasa blinked back the tears that had formed in her eyes. "What?"

He was sitting back against the couch now but he was watching her. "That moron has no idea how you feel about him."

His words sent a jolt through her body. No, not that. She long pushed away any feelings she knew she had for Eren; it was too hard to look at him and know he would never feel the same way. Mikasa learned to just be happy they were friends as hard as it was sometimes when he wanted to give her a high five and she wanted to kiss him.

Mikasa looked back to the blue shirt in her hands. "I don't know what you're talking about."

It was silent for a moment, some wood creaking above their heads.

"Jesus," Jean sighed. "Eren and I might not get along but I don't hate the guy. He quite clearly cares about you even though he does a shitty way of showing it. You saw what happened there, Mikasa. It took one second for someone we know, someone we've  _known_ die in front of our eyes. There was no chance for unspoken words from the people who loved him." He paused but Mikasa refused to meet his eyes. "I don't wish that on anyone."

He pushed himself to his feet and started to walk to the stairs. Jean stopped like he was gonna say something else but she heard his steps up the stairs till there was silence again.

Mikasa set Eren's backpack off to the side of her and tried not to think about what Jean had said; she just needed to focus on seeing Eren again, not all the things she never told him. She gently pulled Eren's shirt over her head, the sleeves falling over her fingers, just a bit too long; she didn't mind. Mikasa wrapped her arms around herself and pulled her knees up to her chest.

It wasn't nearly as good as Eren beside her, comforting her but as the tears started to well up in her eyes, it would have to do for now.

It was a quiet night overall, despite her cries she tried to keep low enough for no one to hear, absolutely nothing moved outside, not even an animal. She would've rather something to get her mind off of everything that happened but no luck, she didn't even need to get off the couch. What she really wanted was the sun to start to rise so they could leave again but every minute seemed like an hour.

She absent mindedly played with the ends of his sleeves with her finger and pulled her scarf up over her mouth every now and then. She had to keep telling herself that he wasn't dead, that she'd see him again, this wasn't the end but her words weren't enough to reassure her; she needed to see his face.

The slight creaking of stairs behind her made her quickly glance back just in case of danger, but it was just Armin's small smile that was looking back at her. "Couldn't sleep?" she asked as Armin made his way over to sit down next to her.

He shrugged. "I slept for a little bit but if you thought Eren snored badly you should hear Reiner up there."

It was a little more comforting to at least have Armin with her now; it seemed a little more normal.

He pulled on the sleeve of the shirt she was wearing. "Eren would pack a long sleeved shirt in summer wouldn't he?"

It was one of her favorite things about Armin; she never had to explain herself to him, he just always knew. "Armin, what do you really think about what we saw at the lab?"

He was quiet for a moment as he watched her; she figured it was safe with everyone asleep upstairs where they couldn't over hear them. "I don't think the virus is mutating." He kept his voice low, probably just in case. "Otherwise we would have seen more of them and the fact they were locked up in that lab only confirmed my suspicions that the virus did originate there. There were some kinda experiments done that eventually resulted in this virus."

"Can you be sure?"

Armin shook his head. "But theoretically there must've been experiments done to create the virus, right? It's not natural, it had to be created. If they were creating a virus that turned people into Biters, who says they didn't create and even more powerful one that turned people into what we saw at the lab."

"But what was the point of it? To turn people into monsters?"

"I really can't be sure about that. It could've been malicious, but it could've been created for the good but got released on accident."

Mikasa supposed that made sense but she wouldn't ever claim to be as smart as Armin when it came to these kinda things so if he said it, she'd believe him. There was one other thing she wanted to ask, something Armin was sure to have thought about but might not want to voice what he came up with. Still, she wanted to know. "What do you think Eren and Dr. Jaeger have to do with all this?"

Armin's initial silence didn't surprise her too much. "Dr. Jaeger had something to do with the virus that I can be sure about but whether for good or bad I don't know; there isn't enough evidence to point either way at this point. As for Eren…" He sighed. "Eren got tied up in all of this as well. The fact of his immunity, that Dr. Jaeger took Eren to Star Labs without us so that we wouldn't be involved in whatever was going on in that lab and Eren's obvious memory issues from not remembering Star Labs at all along with those times he just completely zones out but doesn't remember what he was thinking about. How though, I can't be sure about."

Mikasa nodded slowly; there was a lot of evidence that pointed to both Eren and his dad's involvement but Armin was right, there were still too many unknown variables to consider before a firm conclusion could be made. "Annie was at that lab with Eren when they were kids," she said, her tone dropping even lower. "Do you think…?"

Armin held his finger up to his lips signaling her to not say any more on the matter. "I think we should stay on our guard, that's all."

Mikasa leaned back on the couch, trying to rid the small ball of anxiety that had started to form in her stomach. All of this was too much; how did their lives get so tangled up in this mess? She wished Eren was here; he'd know what to do, he always did.

"You know what I think he's doing right now?" Armin said, giving her a warm smile that made Mikasa feel more at ease.

"What?"

"Driving Sasha absolutely crazy."

Mikasa snorted, a smile pulling at her mouth; that was probably true.

Armin leaned back against the couch next to her, his eyes staring outside. "He's probably driving her around that that bike of his refusing to stop or take any breaks so that he can get back faster and Sasha is probably hitting him with her bow or something."

"I can see that," Mikasa gave a small laugh but she still bit at the bottom of her lip as she looked back to Armin. "Do you really think he'll be there at the hospital waiting for us?"

"I know he 'll be." Armin put his hand on her arm, still smiling. "And he'll get that look on his face, the one when he'd trying to pretend he's mad but you can tell he's really just relived. The first thing he'll ask is what took us so long to get there."

"And he'll expect you to quote  _Lord of the Rings_ at him."

Armin laughed. "That may be true. He might do it himself if I don't." Armin reached up to put his arm around Mikasa's shoulders, her head falling against his shoulder. "I promise I'll make sure you get back to him."

"And you too."

Armin nudged his head against hers. "Yeah, he's my best friend, but I'm not in love with him."

She couldn't even look him in the eyes, her cheeks feeling hot. "Armin."

He chuckled but sighed as silence settled in the room. "Everything's gonna be okay."

Mikasa didn't know about that but at least for now, she chose to believe him.


	11. The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Past
> 
> Summary: Eren doesn’t know what looming out there in the city but he knows that’s where he has to go. He tried to focus on just getting him and Sasha there as quickly as possible but when nightmares and his own thoughts turn against him, he isn’t sure how he’s supposed to keep moving.  
> Pairing: Eren/Mikasa & Connie/Sasha  
> Rating: T (Language)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, back to Eren and Sasha for a chapter. Be warned, this chapter is super shippy. I had to start setting up for some events coming up so Eren had to have a long talk with himself and Sasha to get moving in the right direction haha I promise, the action will be back next chapter!

Eren didn’t know why he even bothered trying to sleep on the side of the road but it didn’t work. Every time he closed his eyes all he saw was Connie’s body in front of him with those monsters. Titans, as Sasha had taken to calling them, were always looming over, reaching out to the next person in their reach. Every time Eren woke up in a cold sweat; his heart racing and not feeling any less exhausted than when he fell asleep. He eventually just gave up and let Sasha sleep while he kept watch. Eren wasn’t sure if Sasha would be able to sleep any better, but maybe she’d just be so exhausted nightmares wouldn’t plague her too.

What were they supposed to do now? What the hell were they supposed to do? Sasha already agreed to head to the hospital to meet with the others but Goddammit what were they gonna do now? Eren rolled his head back against the back of his bike he was leaning against, Sasha curled up on the road next to him. Everything was left in the SUV, all the supplies, weapons; all they had was the bike, Sasha’s bow, his bat, and a map that Sasha found at a gas station they drove by a few hours ago. He didn’t even have his damn bag anymore; Mikasa probably still had it.

Just the thought of her name had her cries ringing in his ears again. He shut his eyes, trying to block it out but that only made it worse. Images of her body broken on the side of the road, or her in pain, of her turning into…

Eren forced his eyes back open, trying to shake the images from his head. No, he couldn’t think like that. He just had to work to get back to them and hope they were all together and okay. Eren left her and Armin in safe hands. Eren might not have remembered much about Annie, and never met her friends before yesterday but at least Jean was still with them, he’d look out for them.

The thought just a few weeks ago would’ve made Eren laugh a loud, but things changed, times changed. He had to trust the people he knew and no one else. He had to trust that the people he loved would be okay.

By the time the sun was up Eren was even more exhausted then he was before but he didn’t have any choice but to move on. He figured the wind on his face would keep him awake, as well as sheer determination to not spend another day not knowing if they were safe or not.

Sasha was quiet from the moment they woke up. She really only talked when she checked the map to see what route would be easiest to get to the hospital. She kept her arms tight around Eren as they rode together, always staring off to the side. Whether she was keeping watch or lost in her own nightmares Eren couldn’t be sure. He wanted to ask her if she was okay but Eren knew well enough to know she probably wouldn’t say much on the matter. Eren tried to keep an eye out for anything that would show the SUV came this way; whether it be tire marks, things they might’ve left behind as a trail or the things he saw in his own nightmares.

He accelerated the bike, making it speed around an upcoming corner. Was he right to have left them? He did it so they could get out before one of the Titans got a hold of the SUV and stranded them all there; Eren had no idea if those things were capable of that but they were strong enough, and clearly smart enough to not think like other Bitters. He supposed thinking back on his choices now were a moot point. He couldn’t change the choices he made; he did what he did to save them, that’s all.

But what if saving them actually doomed them to a worse fate? What if he never knew if he really did save them or not? What if all this was his fault?

“Eren?” Sasha’s voice was questioning but still firm; it was the first time he heard her talk since she told him to pull onto this road.

“Try and hold it for a little bit longer, we don’t have time to stop.” Eren tilted his head back to her.

“Eren. You’re pushing nearly 80 down this road. I don’t need to stop but you do.”

“The faster we get there the faster we can be with everyone again.” The faster we can see them, the faster we can know everything is okay.

“It won’t do us any good if we’re dead on the side of the road because the bike slipped under some gravel at a high speed.”

Eren grit his teeth. Yeah, okay, maybe they should’ve gotten helmets, and maybe his worn t-shirt probably wouldn’t help. It was worse for Sasha; she was wearing a tank top and shorts with nothing to save her if Eren lost control. He wouldn’t lose control though. They just had to keep moving.

“If you don’t stop this bike, Eren, I will tip it.”

He doubted she actually would because that would kill them both but it was the tone she was speaking in. She wasn’t mad, she wasn’t even upset, but he knew that tone because he heard it from Mikasa countless times. It was concern; Sasha was worried about him. He slowed the bike down and pulled off to the side of the road, though his heart was still pounding in his chest. They shouldn’t be stopping, they had to keep going.

“Look, Sasha, I’m fine, okay?” He pushed himself off the bike so he could stand to look at her and get this over with. “I just want to keep moving. I’ll slow down if it makes you feel more comfortable but I just want to get us safely to the hospital.”

Sasha was quiet as she watched him, listening to his words. “You didn’t sleep at all last night. You’ve been up for over twenty four hours and are driving. You need to rest before we keep moving.”

“No,” Eren said, feeling that surge of frustration turning in the pit of his stomach. “We don’t have time to rest, Sasha. We _need_ to keep going. How the hell will we ever find them if we don’t?”

Sasha crossed her arms against her chest. “How the hell will we find them if you fall asleep at the wheel?”

“I’m not tired.” This was getting ridiculous, they were wasting so much time talking. “Let’s just get back on the road, okay?”

“No.”

“No?” That frustration rose enough to feel it in his limbs, his chest, his head. “Okay, so what the hell are we gonna do? Just sit around until you say it’s okay to go again? Just wait around while the others could be in danger? While they could be…” He couldn’t even bring himself to say it, he just ran his hands harshly through his hair. “Sasha, we need to keep moving. We need to find them. I can’t just sit here while they could be in trouble. I can’t.”

She watched him carefully before shifting so she was sitting facing Eren on the bike. “How did you get out of the school?”

“Seriously? That is the least important of all this shit.”

“How did you get outta school?” She asked again, face firm.

Eren let out an annoyed groan as he kicked a rock off the side of the pavement. “Mikasa found me.”

“And how did you and Mikasa get outta there?”

“Armin was waiting for us in a car.”

Sasha paused again and Eren realized what she was trying to do. “They’re smart and resourceful. I have no doubt that mixed with Jean and the others they’re with they’re fine and safe. Do you honestly think either of them would let you drive the way you are? All wound up and exhausted?”

Eren sighed, rubbing his eyes. Well, that was more than a little true but what else was he supposed to do? The only way was to keep driving.

Sasha scooted over on the bike, leaving room for Eren to lean up against it as she patted the seat. He really didn’t want to do this but maybe taking a breather for just a few minutes would help clear his mind. He half sat, half leaned on the bike to keep its balance as the warm breeze blew over them.

“How’d you meet them?” Sasha’s voice was more relaxed now.

“Who?”

“Mikasa and Armin. I’ve never seen you guys apart before.”

“They’re my neighbors,” Eren shrugged.

“C’mon.” Sasha nudged him lightly. “There’s something between you three you don’t see very often. I want to know exactly how it happened.” She paused. “Maybe happy thoughts of them would help.”

Maybe they would. Eren sighed as he stared across the street. “Armin I knew since we were toddlers. His grandpa, the Colonel, you meet him right?”

Sasha nodded. “He’s nice. Intimidating sometimes but really nice.”

“Yeah, that’s him. Well, Armin might’ve said before but his parents died when he was really young and the Colonel raised him from about two years old on. The Colonel obviously raised Armin very well, but it’s not like his house was made for a baby so my mom being the social butterfly I’m sure you saw she is brought me over so Armin could have a playmate and we’ve been friends ever since.”

“You two must’ve been so cute.”

It triggered something he forgot. Eren reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a now crumpled picture. He tried to straighten out the picture of him, Armin, and Mikasa that was in his dad’s office to show Sasha. “Armin was, but I was a bit of a handful.”

“Wow, I couldn’t even imagine.” Her tone stated she thought the complete opposite as she looked down at the picture.

Eren shook his head. “I often wondered why Armin ever stuck by my side for all the crap and trouble I got him into.”

“That’s what best friends do.” Sasha said simply and pointed to Mikasa’s face in the picture. “What about Mikasa? Have you known her for just as long?”

He hesitated as he stared at their younger forms; that was a bit more difficult to explain and he wasn’t sure how much Mikasa actually wanted people to know. “I found her, when we were about nine in, uh, in, a park. Kinda like Armin we were friends ever since. We only found out later she had just moved to our neighborhood as well.”

Sasha seemed to know Eren wasn’t telling the full story judging by the way she was looking at him, but she didn’t ask. “It’s been the three of you since then huh?”

“Yepp, I introduced Mikasa to Armin shortly after and we’ve always been inseparable since then.”

“Is that why you have that desire to always keep them safe?”

Eren shrugged. “They don’t need me. Armin might not be physically strong but he’s smart; he can out smart anyone. Mikasa, she really doesn’t need me. She’s always been able to take care of herself. I mean, who else would think to take down a sword from the wall of the Martial Arts club room and use to take down Biters? She’s strong enough.”

Sasha snorted. “You’re still driving yourself to the edge to get back to them, even though by judging what you’ve said they should be fine.”

“Well, I mean, they’re my best friends. I miss them, I want to see for myself they’re okay. I need to make sure they’re okay.”

“Why?”

Eren dropped his hands in his lap as he looked over to Sasha. “Why the hell with all the questions? I want to see them, isn’t that reason enough?”

Sasha rolled her eyes. “I just think there’s something else there so talk to me, why are you pushing yourself so hard aside from just missing them?”

Eren hesitated, feeling his stomach drop. There were so many many nauseating images running through his head; all blaming himself for what he might’ve done but one voice stuck out more than all of them. Mikasa was the strongest person he knew and he saw her broken so many times before. Yet when he heard her crying out to him and he just ignored her, he knew it was his fault.

“A few months ago,” Eren started, staring down at the ground. “Mikasa’s dad, I dunno if you met him or…?”

Sasha shook her head. “They were gone before me and…” Her voice trailed off.

“Well, Mr. A was a cop,” Eren said quickly, trying to keep Sasha from thinking of things that would make her sad too. “A good one. He even took me and Armin shooting a few times though we completely sucked at it. Unsurprisingly, Mikasa was so much better. He taught me how to ride his bike too which is how I came to be the driver of this one. He was a good guy, and a good dad.” Eren swallowed hard. “He adored Mikasa, to the point of a few months ago he asked me to take a ride with him in his car.

“It wasn’t too unusual really, Mr. A had been giving us rides in the squad car since we were kids, what was unusual that it was just me this time. I had to run through the past few weeks in my head to make sure I wasn’t about to get in trouble for something but he just laughed at the look on my face.” This was the first time he talked about them like this, in the past tense; it still hurt.

Sasha placed a hand on his shoulder.

“He said he just wanted to talk.” Eren cleared his throat. “That he knew he his job was a difficult one and that at any moment something could go wrong and take his life. He told me he needed to know there would always be someone there to take care of Mikasa, that he needed to know she’d always be okay. Of course I told him I always would, but I asked him why he was asking me and not someone else, not me and Armin.”

“What did he say?”

Eren looked up at Sasha. “He smiled and said I’d figure it out one day.”

“And have you?”

He reached up to run a hand through his hair; it was grimy, and for the first time he realized just how long it was since he actually showered. “All I know is I can’t stop seeing her face, hearing her crying. I need to know she’s okay. I can’t just…it’s killing me. She could be in danger and I can’t help her from her. I need to see her to just I don’t know hold her, to know she’s okay. I just…I hate this.”

Sasha was quiet, her own eyes on her hands as she listened. Eren had no idea what was on her mind, hell, he didn’t even know what was on his mind. He had no idea what he was thinking, what he was feeling. All he knew was he needed to find Mikasa; he couldn’t take this.

“When I was in fourth grade,” Sasha said a bit breathlessly. “I didn’t have a lot of friends. A lot of people thought I had a funny accent when I was little, or thought I was a hick cause I lived in the country. One day, someone just reached across the table and grabbed some chips off my plate? Can you believe that?” She laughed. “When I looked up to yell at this kid, he was just smiling at me and told me those were the best chips he ever had. Connie and I were friends ever since.”

Eren felt his heart sink. “Sasha, you don’t have to…”

She looked up with him, her eyes a little glossy but she smiled. “Please, Eren, I want to. I knew him for a long time too, like you and Armin and Mikasa. We didn’t live near each other but we still always did everything together.” She hesitated for a moment, biting her lip. “I tried, you know, I tried to tell him how I felt multiple times, but you know Connie, he’s a bit dense…he was he…” She paused again and Eren reached his arm around her shoulder, letting her head fall against him. “I never got to tell him…I never told him that I loved him that I was in love with him, how much he meant to me, how important he was and now, now I have to live with that.” She broke off with a cry.

Eren rubbed her arm as she cried, kicking himself for the way he had been acting. He might not be with Armin and Mikasa but as far as he knew they were still alive, Sasha already lost her best friend. “I’m so sorry.”

She shook her head. “No, don’t pity me. It’s my fault I didn’t have the courage to do it before it was too late but please…” She looked up at him. “Please don’t make the same mistakes I did.”

“How I feel? I…I don’t…It’s not…” Eren tried to find the words to deny what Sasha was implying but nothing was coming to his mind, nothing but the way his chest was constricting.

She sat up on the bike, reaching to her eyes to wipe away her tears. “Think about what you were telling me before, then tell me how you feel. Think about never seeing her again, and then tell me.” She paused, sniffling a bit. “It’s obvious, you know, when you two are together. It’s natural. It’s clear how much you care about her, how much she cares about you, the way you gravitate to each other. You two even sleep curled up together more often than not.”

For some reason Eren couldn’t explain, his cheeks started to feel hot. “It’s complicated.”

 “Well, right now this world isn’t. You fight and you live or you die, that simple. Don’t hide under the complications because they could be taken away in a second leaving you only with regret.” Sasha reached over to squeeze his shoulder. “Try and rest a little bit okay? I’ll keep watch.”

He didn’t fight this time; he just nodded and pushed himself to his feet, walking till he could lay down in the grass off to the side of the road. His eyes were heavy, his limbs felt limp but he wasn’t sure how much of that was exhaustion and how much of it was his mind dwelling too much on what Sasha was trying to tell him. He looked at the picture in his hands one more time before putting it back into his pocket. He closed his eyes, the sunlight still bright behind his eyelids.

He never questioned how he felt about Mikasa before; she was just his best friend, someone he cared for all the time, someone he never wanted to see be hurt, someone he always wanted to be around him. He missed her when she was gone and he felt warm when she was around. He loved her laugh, her smile and he loved that she could kick anyone’s ass including his own but she was the most beautiful girl he knew; no one had ever came close and he didn’t know if anyone ever would.

All that though that was all normal. She was his childhood friend, of course he protected her, of course he never thought anyone would be good enough for her, of course he always wanted to be around her, of course he loved her. He loved Armin too, like he was Eren’s own brother but could he really say the same for Mikasa?

 That thought alone had his stomach churning. No, that wasn’t right, that wasn’t how he saw her. If he did he wouldn’t just hang out with her all the time, he wouldn’t get annoyed when other guys tried to ask her out, he wouldn’t want to punch Jean in the face every time he looks at her, he wouldn’t have those dreams where he wanted nothing more than just her leaving him jolted awake with a nervous desire, and he wouldn’t sleep horribly when her presence wasn’t there to relax him.

Was Sasha right? Was there something that he ignored and just accepted it as normal between them? Was there something more?

Eren shook his head with a groan. None of this was helping. He didn’t want to sleep; he just wanted to go find Mikasa and Armin. Eren’s body was heavy though; he couldn’t even get up let alone drive the bike. Sasha talked to him to get him to stop running off adrenaline so that his body would just pass out on its own. Yeah, that’s all it was.

His mind started to fade, finally being able to get some rest but there was a jolt to his chest. He knew, he _knew_ that wasn’t the only reason Sasha talked to him about it. He knew because as he was falling asleep the only thing he wanted was know Mikasa was there with him. The way his heart clenched when she wasn’t, the ache he felt without her there told him.

It felt like the wind was knocked outta him, like a punch to the gut. How was he ever so blind? She was always there, she was always right there. Now she could be in danger, and what was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to do with all these swirling, conflicting, thoughts and no way to know where she was?

He was fading fast, his body past the point of exhaustion but he knew when he got up he had to keep driving, thought a bit more carefully this time. He had to get back, to just at least see her again but now he didn’t even know what the hell he was gonna say to her when he did. 


	12. The Soldiers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Soldiers
> 
> Summary: The hospital is finally in view and Mikasa couldn't be more relieved. Yet, just because they were close didn't mean anything was better. She still had no idea if Eren and Sasha would even be there, let alone if it was safe to get to Dr. Jaeger's office. She could only hope that he'd be there waiting for her safe and sound.  
> Pairing: Eren/Mikasa  
> Rating: M (Violence and Strong Language)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's this stories one year anniversary today! I can't believe we've been writing this for a year already it's crazy to me. Thank you guys for sending so much feedback and love for this story! It's really helped me keep up with chapters and keep building up the story to the eventual end. We're looking at around 20 or so chapters so we still have a ways to go for that!

"It shouldn't be too much longer now," Mikasa said, her eyes scanning over the map and on the pen line leading to the hospital. It felt like years ago, back when it was just the three of them.

"Are we just staying on this road til it dumps us in the city?" Armin was driving again, giving Jean a break from everything that happened yesterday. Armin didn't glance over at Mikasa, keeping his eyes on the road but she did see him look in the rearview mirror seeing how their quiet passengers were doing.

"No, you'll have to turn off this one to get to a road that will bring us closer into the city."

"Good, the less we have to drive into the city the better."

Mikasa folded up the map so that only the path they needed was in easy view before looking out the window. It had been hours of trees, trees, a house, and more trees. She didn't even know they had so much country land near the city until all of this happened. Really, she didn't care. The faster they got to the city the better.

She had been keeping an eye out for any signs of the lone bike and its two riders but there was nothing, not even a skid mark on the road. No, all she saw were trees and the occasional Biter lurking around. That was something she knew was bound to get worse the closer they got to the city but they had no other choice, this was always the plan. This was how they got back to Eren and Sasha.

Mikasa turned her head to look back into the rest of the SUV. Jean was the only one she trusted back there. He was currently in the far back looking like he was trying to sleep. Bertholdt was next to him, eyes staring out the window. Annie and Reiner were both awake, looking disinterested and bored respectively. There was just something about them, something strange. Mikasa couldn't really place it but there were some things she needed to know. If they were about to trust these people to go into a place where Eren's father might be or might've left things behind, Mikasa had to know if they were trustworthy or not.

"I assume you guys are from a different district, since I never remember seeing you at our school."

Annie didn't even look up, but Reiner looked surprised, like he couldn't believe Mikasa was speaking to him in a semi normal tone. "Ah, yeah," he said, giving her a smile. "A few districts away actually. Annie, Bertholdt, and I are all from the same town. We've known each other since we were kids."

"Sounds familiar," Armin said, glancing back in the rearview mirror again.

"So you traveled all this way just to come to a lab?" Mikasa tried not to sound accusatory but if they were as far away from home as Reiner was implying, why the hell would they come all the way out here?

Reiner shrugged. "It's like Annie said the other day. The lab was where her father worked at one point, so we took her out there to see if maybe her father or other people had the same idea. Obviously they did since you guys were there."

"Was the way over here difficult?" Armin asked.

"Yeah," Reiner sighed, running a hand through his hair. "It was rough. We were on foot at first and we nearly didn't make it out alive. We found a car that still had the keys in it which helped a lot but we didn't think and it ran outta gas." He snorted at the memory. "So we were on foot again until we made it too the lab. We stopped at a lot of houses to gather supplies and rest, some of them worked out, some of them not so much."

"I know that feeling," Jean grunted from the back though when Mikasa looked his eyes were still closed.

"Was your father a medical doctor like Dr. Jaeger, Annie?" Mikasa asked trying to bite back any bitterness from her tone; she wasn't sure it worked very well but Annie still glanced up at her.

"No, he was just a researcher, a scientist."

Mikasa absent mindedly tugged on the long sleeves of Eren's shirt she was still wearing. "What did he research?"

Annie shrugged. "I never really cared what he researched. All I knew was he brought me with him to the lab sometimes when there was no one else to watch me. I think it was something to do with chronic illness. It was too hard to follow him when he talked when I was a kid though."

"I understand," Mikasa mumbled. It was the truth. She listened to Dr. Jaeger talk when she knew nothing about the human body outside normal schooling. It wasn't easy even when she got older let alone when she was a child.

"Eren used to say his dad took care of people, but I'm not sure if that age he knew exactly what his dad did," Annie said. "What type of doctor is he?"

It was the first time Annie ever made conversation with them let alone her. Mikasa glanced over to Armin.

"He's a virologist," Armin answered. "He worked both in the research end and as a physician. Carla, Eren's mom, used to tease him that he just liked to work on all the weird cases so he'd have something challenging and I always assumed that was the truth."

Mikasa really wasn't sure if Armin should've said all that to Annie, but Mikasa also trusted Armin's choices so he must've done it for a reason.

"Huh," Reiner said. "Guess it made sense why they were both working there then. Must've been some kinda lab to study that sorta thing."

"Do you think those monsters had something to do with what was researched there? Maybe the Biters too?" Bertholdt's voice nearly made Mikasa jump; she was pretty sure he hadn't talked since they got in the car this morning.

"It's hard to say," Armin said. "Until we know exactly what's causing these mutations, anything is a good guess."

That was a lie. Armin already had his suspicions about Star Labs and what might've occurred there but clearly he didn't want them to know that too. Granted, it was something Armin didn't share with Jean, Sasha, and...Connie. Armin could've been keeping it between her and Eren like he had before. Still, Mikasa didn't trust them even if Annie did give them some confirmation about the lab whether she knew it or not.

"Connie would say it's an x-gene or some nerdy shit like that," Jean said.

Saying his name out loud sent a chill down Mikasa's spine but Armin merely chuckled.

"The x-gene mutated them into having special abilities and powers, not into mindless monsters."

Jean grunted. "I'm sure it turned someone into a mindless monster at some point in those hundreds of comic books and storylines."

Silence fell over the car and Mikasa looked back down at the map on her lap. What she wanted was answers, but answers were hard to come by without actually accusing someone they were hiding something. It could also mean blowing what Armin had already pieced together and Mikasa knew better than to do that.

"Turn left up on this next road, that should take us right to the city," Mikasa said before glancing out the window. The sight actually surprised her; they were back in the suburbs with rows of houses and new developments. They must've moved into them when she had her head turned to the back of the SUV.

It was a good thing, it meant they were getting closer.

"Eren talked about you two, you know." Annie's voice surprised Mikasa again and she couldn't for the life of her understand why Annie was suddenly being so talkative. Well, except for the fact she might be doing the same thing Mikasa was.

"Did he?" Armin glanced back at her in the rearview mirror.

"Yeah, I didn't remember until your names were said but he used to tell me stories of the two of you whenever we'd play in the woods."

The thought brought a little bit of warmth to her chest; even though they hadn't been there Eren still didn't forget about them. "He never mentioned you."

Annie's lips pursed and she looked away, eyes back on the window.

"What Mikasa means," Armin started giving Mikasa a look. "Is we're not sure if Eren didn't remember back then like he did when we were at the lab or if was something he just never had the time to mention. Eren was a bit of a scatterbrain when he was younger."

Annie didn't respond and Mikasa knew that was probably her fault, but whatever. It's not like she trusted Annie farther than Mikasa could throw her. It's not like she liked the idea of Eren spending his time with this girl when they were younger and never talking about her. Yeah, Eren didn't remember Annie when they met again, but did he also not remember when they were kids either? None of it added up.

She sighed and leaned back in her seat. Would the hospital really help? Or would it just be another dead end? Mikasa knew she shouldn't think that way; getting Eren and Sasha back was most important and it was, it really was. Everything else could come after.

"There's the skyline," Armin said causing Mikasa to look out the windshield.

Sure enough there were the tall buildings of the city were already looming over the trees in the distance. They really were almost there.

"Armin?" Mikasa asked, her fingers curling around the edge of her scarf. "Do you really think they're there?"

"Of course," Armin nodded but he didn't say anything more on the matter. He made a slow turn onto the road Mikasa told him to and her breath caught in her throat. They'd be able to see Eren again.

"Don't get your hopes up," Annie said, her voice cutting into Mikasa. "Anything could've happened out there. I'm not saying they're never coming but we very well could get there before them."

Mikasa clenched her jaw, mainly because Annie was right; they had the map and they didn't even know if Eren knew how to get to the city from where they were separated. Mikasa didn't want to think about that though. She just wanted to get there and have Eren standing there waiting for them.

"What's our plan then?" Reiner asked. "For both if they're there or they aren't. We're getting closer and we need to know what we're doing before we even enter the city limits."

"If they're there, great," Armin said. "Two more very capable hands to help get into the hospital. If not, we should wait somewhere we can see them when they come in."

"If the place is overrun like it probably is, where the hell are we gonna wait?"

"That's something that can be scouted when we get there. It's been a while since I've been around the hospital to say what place would be safe to stay in until then."

"And if they never show up?" Annie's voice alone made anger swirl in the pit of Mikasa's stomach. How the hell could Annie say something like that? Of course they'd show up. Eren wouldn't just leave them alone. He wouldn't.

"We'll deal with that if the time comes," Armin said.

The silence settled once more, no one needing to say more on the matter. Mikasa looked out her window again, starting at the buildings off in the not too distant skyline. She couldn't think about it like that; not after everything they went through to get to this place. They would all be together, and everything would be right…but would anything ever actually be right again?

No one spoke, not even when the residential house started to turn into the office buildings; not even when the periodic Biter turned into roaming groups down alleyways and lurking in store fronts. It was so strange. While Mikasa didn't go out to the city very often, it was still a very familiar place to her; she knew the stores, the signs, the buildings, the streets. Now it looked like something out of a horror movie than the place her mom used to take her shopping, Granted, she supposed that's exactly what this world had become.

Reiner let out a low whistle. "This place looks like a tornado came through."

It was true. There were broken windows everywhere, power lines down, cars tipped over, and every building looking long abandoned. Armin maneuvered the car the best he could around the cars that seemed to be everywhere but the deeper they got in the city the worse the roads got. Biters didn't pay too much attention to the car, but Mikasa was paying attention to them. It was the most she saw since when they left Ymir and Historia. It seemed like they were down every road, around every corner; it made her chest clench, her fingers dig into her legs.

"Take the left up here, Armin," Jean said from the back seat. "As long as its not blocked off it should be a short cut to get over to the hospital area."

Armin did what Jean said without question, and thankfully the small side road wasn't cluttered with cars, but it was cluttered with Biters.

"Jesus, where are they even coming from?" Bertholdt muttered.

"Probably just residents of the city that never made it out," Annie shrugged while Armin slowed down the car to get past the Biters without them attacking.

"There," Mikasa said pointing to a building in the near distance. "That's one of the towers of the hospital." Her heart started to pound in her chest; they were so close now.

Armin still didn't speak; he just kept driving through the debris and the Biters lurking around until the hospital signs were looming over them. He turned onto the property and Mikasa breathed a sigh of relief; the grounds looked clear. Well, not completely clear, there were some Biters lingering around but not as many as were in the streets.

"They must've all taken off when this whole thing happened," Jean said. "Can you imagine how many must've come from this place alone? Shit."

"Don't get a head of yourselves," Reiner said. "We don't know how many are still in the buildings."

"It's only one building we need to get into," Mikasa said.

Armin drove through the maze of small streets and parking lots to get the building that Dr. Jaeger worked in. It was one of the bigger ones that they couldn't exactly see the entrance of due to other smaller building in front of it. Armin parked the car of to the side of one of the parking lots before they got any closer.

"Why so far away?" Reiner asked. "If we need to bolt this is gonna be harder to get to."

Armin turned off the car and looked back. "Dr. Jaeger worked in one of the larger buildings here, chances are there are still Biters inside or outside so we need to enter as quietly as possible."

"They never seemed to car too much about the car before, so why does it matter?"

Armin pointed out Mikasa's window. "There's a small path that leads from her directly to Dr. Jaeger's building. Being parked here gives us the most direct entrance and exit should we need. There's also a few buildings around we could get into if we need to wait for Eren and Sasha. I haven't seen any signs of them as of yet but they were well could be in the building already or in a surrounding one waiting for us."

"So we head to Dr. Jaeger's building, if there's no entry and no sign of Eren and Sasha we scout another building to wait in?" Jean asked, leaning forward in his seat.

"Should all go well, yes."

"And if all goes bad?" Annie asked arching an eyebrow.

Armin hesitated. "Run back to the car. I don't want to leave when we finally got here but safety is most important. If it looks impossible we'll leave to find a safer place in the city."

That seemed to appease everyone but Mikasa felt her body tense up. No, there was no way she was leaving when Eren could be here waiting for them. She was getting in that building no matter what. She was getting a head of herself though. They didn't even know what the threat level was yet. Everything could be just fine, everything would be fine.

She popped open her door before jumping outside to slid both her sword and Eren's backpack onto her back. There was the few clicks of doors being gently closed as opposed to being slammed shut. Mikasa looked around to their group; everyone had their weapons drawn, ready to move. Mikasa shut her door before taking her sword in her hand. She nodded to Armin who raised his crossbow and started to lead them down the path he spotted.

She stood behind him should close combat be needed, but everything down the path looked clear, even the alleys between the building. There wasn't a single Biter anywhere. It wasn't a relief, it only made her more on edge. They thought the past lab was safe cause it was clear and look how wrong they were.

No one said a word as they took the path slowly. They were so close now; Mikasa almost saw the full building in view. She was stood up on her toes trying to see if there was a bike parked out in front. Before she could actually see anything she nearly ran into Armin who stopped on the path right before it ended. She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong but she didn't need to, she saw it for herself. Suddenly, the reason why the grounds were so abandoned made sense.

There were Biters everywhere, and she meant  _everywhere._ They didn't seem to be after anyone in particular; they were just meandering around. The hoard was huge and took up the entire front of the hospital and around some of the side as well. Mikasa's heart sunk. How…how were they supposed to get around this? She didn't think…she thought maybe…

"My guess," Armin's voice was soft as to not draw attention. "Someone was here causing them all to congregate in front of this building. The only time we ever see them like this is when they are after someone."

Mikasa's heart was in her throat. "Eren?"

Armin shook his head. "I don't think so, unless he got here a while ago, they aren't trying to get in or chase which means the person or people are long gone."

"Holy shit…" Reiner's voice trailed off as he stood next to him. "There's no way in hell we're going anywhere close to that. You three are on your own."

Armin gestured them to move back against one of the buildings out of the view of the Biters. Mikasa stayed close to the wall so she could make sure the hoard wasn't moving towards them. She also wanted to see if she could carve a path to the hospital.

"We're getting back in that car and leaving, right now," Reiner said.

"Just relax for a second," Armin said, still speaking in hushed tones. "They aren't after us so we have a moment to think. Yes, we can just get up and leave, but then what would we do? This was our goal for days."

"And it's gonna be our death," Berthodlt choked.

"We can still search out a building to wait and plan," Jean said. "Provided those buildings don't look like that one."

Reiner shook his head. "And what if getting into those buildings makes too much noise and attracts them to us plus God knows how many others are lurking around? No, I'm not staying here and nor are my friends. I told you I wasn't risking their lives and if you know what was good for your friends you wouldn't either."

Mikasa could see Armin was torn. He really wanted to stay, to wait for Eren, to find Dr. Jaeger's office but staying here could kill them all with the size of that hoard. "We have to at least try and wait for Eren. I know he'll come here."

Annie looked up to Reiner. "Why don't we try waiting in the car? We can wait to see if they show up and can leave quickly if the Biters notice us."

It wasn't a half bad idea really but it more surprised Mikasa that Annie was suggesting it. Regardless, Mikasa didn't want to just stick around and wait for something to happen; she couldn't just sit here and wait not when Eren could be inside the hospital waiting for them. "No," she said. "We can't sit around and do nothing."

"Mikasa," Jean said. "You can't get in there, look at that hoard. I understand you want to make sure Eren and Sasha didn't already get inside. But you're gonna alert them,  _all_  of them and then we're stuck and probably dead. You're being irrational."

Maybe she was, maybe she just wanted to chop their heads off for what they did to Connie, what they did to all of them. "We have to get in there. Eren could be in there already, he might've made it faster than us and…and…even if…" She gripped the handle of her sword. "Even if Eren's not coming we have to get in there, it's the only way."

"No, Mikasa, it's not, it's really not," Armin said, reaching out for her, but Mikasa stepped away closer to where the hoard was still lingering. "We just need a plan, give it a little time."

She didn't care. She knew what she needed to do and it was to make those bastards know exactly how much pain they had caused her. Connie, her parents, Jean's parents, Marco, Eren, Sasha, Dr. Jaeger, the list went on and on of people they had, people who were missing because of this whole mess. She'd take them all down if she had to and she had to, she just…

Mikasa turned away from them and held her head up as she walked straight towards those damn Biters. They had no idea what was coming for them.

"Mikasa, no!" she heard Armin hiss behind her. She only hoped Armin would stay back so he didn't get hurt.

"She's gonna get us all killed!" That was Reiner but Mikasa still could care less. They could run and they could hide but she wasn't going to.

She heard footsteps running behind her; probably Jean coming after her but it was too late. The Biters already heard them, saw her. They were coming, moaning, and limping after her and she was gonna make them pay. She sliced her sword through the neck of the first Biter who came after her, hands reaching from nearly all sides when that one dropped. Mikasa was about to go to the next one when a force slammed into her side.

Mikasa fell to the ground, sliding across the pavement and trying to catch the breath that got knocked outta her lungs. She went to grab her sword to kill the thing that knocked her over before it killed her but the body came to stand over her. It wasn't attacking her. It was blocking her. Mikasa looked up slowly; she knew that stance, that body, those arms, those shoulders, that head of hair.

"Eren?" she gasped but he didn't turn his head. He didn't even look back at her at all. She saw his body tense, his hands gripping his bat as he took off into the hoard.

Suddenly, it was like Mikasa didn't exist at all, all the Biters dove after Eren but he was faster. He swung his bat over and over again knocking one after the other straight to the ground. He had a look in his eyes, one she had only seen once, back at the house when he wouldn't stop beating the Biter in the head. His jaw was clenched tight even as blood from the Biters splattered over him.

Mikasa was about to call over to him when hands reached under her arms lifting her up to her feet.

"C'mon, we gotta move." It was Sasha. She was here too. The brunette grabbed a hold of Mikasa's arm and quickly led her back to the others who were all staring dumbfounded at Eren still fighting in the center of the hoard. Armin grabbed a hold of Mikasa's arm when Sasha let go, his eyes wide on the scene in front of him.

"Holy fuck…" Jean mumbled from somewhere nearby. She couldn't look though; she couldn't look away from Eren.

Bodies were surrounding him on the ground but live ones kept coming at him. Eren didn't bat an eye; he swung his bat, tearing a head right off and used his bare hand to nearly rip another off. He didn't even flinch as Mikasa watched a bastard bite down on his shoulder.

"No!" Mikasa cried out and moved to run to him but Armin held her tight next to him.

Eren didn't drop his stance, he just reached over and pried the Biter off his shoulder before hitting it square in the jaw with the hilt of his bat. He didn't even hesitate going after the next one that dove for him.

"What the hell is he doing!?" Reiner hissed. "He just got himself killed!"

"No," Armin said thickly. "He's still okay."

"What the fuck does that mean?"

Armin just shook his head.

Eren lunged at another Biter taking it down with enough time to swing his bat at one behind him. One bit down on his arm but Eren took its head off. One after another after another he killed them never hesitating, never stopping, barely even breathing. Mikasa couldn't believe her eyes, she couldn't believe that was him but it was Eren's face, his body, his mannerisms. She'd know him anywhere.

"Eren," she said, barely above a whisper.

"God damn," Jean breathed. "He's nearly killed them all. Sasha, what happened?"

Mikasa turned to see Sasha standing next to Jean, shaking her head in disbelief.

"He was fine," she said. "He was completely fine till we saw Mikasa walk out towards the hoard and he just took off without a word."

Mikasa swallowed hard as she turned back to Eren, his bat sending yet another Biter to the pile of bodies. What was he doing? Why was he letting himself get bit? What was going through his head? For once, Mikasa didn't know.

"He took them all out," Annie said, though her voice betrayed no emotions.

Eren watched the last one go down as he swayed on his feet and fell to his knees. His eyes started to droop and Mikasa was running to him.

"Mikasa!" Reiner shouted. "Don't!"

She ignored him, she ignored him until she was on her knees in front of Eren, surrounded by piles of dead Biters. "Eren?"

He was covered in splattered blood, his pants, his shirt, his arms, face. There were crescent shaped bites on his arms and shoulders but they weren't gushing blood like the last time. No, they were already closing up, healing.

"Eren?" she tried again and this time he looked up at her. His tired eyes he met hers before his eyes fluttered shut and Eren fell forward.

Mikasa dove towards him to catch her in her arms, his head against her shoulder, the rest of his body limp in her arms. His breath was warm against her neck and she felt his heart racing in his chest. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close to her, tears welling up in her eyes. He was alive. He was still here with her. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else would ever matter.

"What the fuck have you brats gotten yourselves into?"

The voice made Mikasa jump, her eyes snapping up towards the sound.

Standing just at the edge of the bodies Eren had taken down was a man, someone Mikasa never saw before. He had narrow eyes and dark hair and was dressed in a military uniform of sorts, eyes staring at her and Eren.

"Who the hell are you?" Mikasa said, holding onto Eren tighter.

"Who the hell am I?" he snorted, crossing his arms on his chest. "I just watched that kid take down a shit ton of these bastards while getting bit. Yet nothing's wrong; like he just didn't get completely fucked up. No, who the hell are you and your little friends over there?"

Mikasa looked up to Armin and the others who looked like he had been trying to come over before this guy showed up, halting them in their tracks. She swallowed hard and didn't loosen her grip on Eren; she just got him back, no one was taking him away from her. She narrowed her eyes at the man who was obviously waiting for an answer but there was only one thing she could think of.

This stranger, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie saw Eren was immune from getting turned.

What the hell were they supposed to do now?


	13. The Hospital

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hospital
> 
> Summary: Eren feels like he woke up in a whole different world. How did he get into the hospital? And when did everyone else get here too? But most of all, how did the military find them?  
> Pairing: Eren/Mikasa  
> Rating: M (Language and Sexual Situations)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little low on the action (well, violence action ;3) but it's a chapter that has to happen for Eren and for the plot things that will start getting clear for everyone real soon I promise! I did like writing this chapter just cause I got to add a few new voices to the mix ;3

It was warm where Eren was; warm and much softer than the side of the road. The smell was familiar too, distant but he still recognized it. He tried to open his eyes but his head was throbbing, his body heavy just like when he gotten bit days before. There was a blanket over him, a pillow under his head, a bed beneath his body but where was he? He tried to remember the last thing he could but everything was blurry and it only made his head hurt more.

Eren forced his eyes open despite the light in the room making him squint and sending sharp pain through his head. Well, even despite the headache at least he knew where he was now. How the hell he made it up in the hospital was completely beyond him though. He had no memory of ever entering the building let alone ending up in a bed. He pushed himself up on his elbows a little and it was then he realized how much his whole body ached. He did remember approaching the hospital with Sasha and vaguely seeing a huge horde around the building, and Mikasa, sword drawn walking right into it.

A tremor went down his spine and he sat up fully in the bed. Mikasa, what the hell had she been thinking? He went to push his heavy body out of bed but black hair spilling onto the sheets caught his eye. He looked over to the other side of the bed to see Mikasa sound asleep next to here he was laying. He must've been really out of it if he didn't even know she was there. He breathed a sigh of relief. She looked to be okay; no cutes, no bites and she was breathing. She was alive.

He reached over to brush his fingers over her face. Even though he still had no idea how he got into the hospital, how they got away from all those Biters, Mikasa was here and she was okay.

Her eyes fluttered open; he must've woken her up. She looked a little out of it herself but her eyes widened as she sat up. "Eren?"

It was only a day or two but her voice alone filled him with something he couldn't really explain. After all those horrible hours wondering if he was ever gonna see her again, those nightmares, just hearing her say his name had his head spinning. What did say? What was he supposed to say?

Mikasa pushed herself up a little so she was more at his level, her forehead furrowed in concern. "Are you okay?"

That look she was giving him, he used to hate it. It used to make him so angry, made him feel useless. Now he only felt relieved even just to see it. Eren reached up to hold her face in his hands, tilting it up towards his. He was gonna say something to her but the next thing he knew his lips were pressed to hers.

A jolt went through his body. Her lips were soft, her breath warm against him; it only made him want to kiss her more. He kissed her. He just kissed his fucking best friend of God knows how many years. With his hands still on her face, Eren pulled away. "Mikasa, I-" he started to say but her lips slammed into his, nearly knocking him over.

He was only caught off guard for a moment because when she reached up to run her fingers through his hair, he was completely lost. He dropped his hands from her face to her waist, causing the both of them to fall back down to the hospital bed. He ran his hands down to her hips and pulled her into him. Eren tried to hold in a groan at the feeling of her body pressed up against him but that didn't last long when Mikasa kicked a leg up over his hip. She curled it around his back, rolling her hips into his and closing any distance between them there might've been.

It was familiar in a sense; he had made out with a girl before. This wasn't any other girl though. Every motion her lips made against his, the way her hands knew just the right angle to tug his hair at, how she fit into him like this was the most normal thing in the world. It had his pulse pounding in his ears.

Eren broke away from their kiss to trail his lips down her neck. He nipped at her skin which earned him a gasp that sent his mind reeling. He slipped his fingers beneath her shirt, feeling her bare skin under his touch.

"Eren," she moaned and the sound nearly made him freeze. He was pretty damn sure his name never sounded that good before.

He grasped onto her waist, holding her firm against him and grinded his hard arousal into her. Mikasa's hand fluttered down to find one of his. In one swift motion she hand held his hand down over her breast. He moaned against her skin, his fingers rubbing over her before he grasped down. She reached over to grab ahold of his shoulders as she practically withered against him. He kept a steady rhythm with his hand on her, his swollen lips reaching back up to meet hers.

"Hey, Mikasa, how's he-"

Eren nearly fell backwards off the bed at the sound of Sasha's voice. Mikasa sat up so fast she nearly headbutted him.

"Oh, God," Sasha exclaimed, eyes wide and hands clasped over her mouth. "Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…I didn't know." She grabbed ahold of the door handle. "I'll just….Good to know you're awake, Eren. Sorry!" She nearly slammed the door behind her which didn't help Eren's racing pulse.

He looked up to Mikasa only to see her staring red faced and shocked at him, her hand over her mouth. She was panicking.

"Mikasa-" he choked, but what the hell was he suppoed to say? It really didn't matted because she was already sliding off the bed. "Wait!" He went to grab her arm but she was already out of reach.

"I should go let everyone know you're up." She was heading at the door, straighting her shirt and not looking him in the eyes. "Come down the hall when you're ready. Levi and Hanji will want to finally meet you."

"Mikasa, please come back, let me-" He stopped when she opened the door, his forehead furrowing. "Who the hell are Levi and Hanji?"

"Come out when you're ready." Her voice was soft, so soft it nearly tore his heart out.

"Mika-" The door closed and she was gone.

Shit. God fucking dammit. Fuck. Eren grabbed the bunched up blankets and threw them across the room before running his hands through his hair. What did he do? Aside from getting to second base with a girl that he didn't know how to tell her what his feelings for her were. He groaned into his hands when the thought of what just happened gave him a throbbing ache from his erection. What was he supposed to do now? What if he just ruined everything and not just in a relationship sense but in their friendship too? He couldn't lose her, not after all this shit, after everything they had been through.

Eren couldn't dwell on it now. There was nothing he could do until Mikasa spoke to him again or if she was gonna. He needed to remember why they were here and how they even got here, and who those people Mikasa mentioned were. He took a few deep breaths to calm his pulse, and tried to think of anything to make his body relax, every part of his body.

By the time he reached the door to pull it open he felt a little bit calmer, at least enough to face the others.

"Eren, hey!" Armin was already heading down the hall, a wide grin on his face. "I'm so happy to see you up."

"I'm glad to see you too, buddy." Eren didn't have to fake a smile as he clasped his arm around his friend's shoulder.

"Is everything okay?" Armin was still smiling as they started to walk down the empty hospital hallway but Eren knew that look in his eyes.

"You mean aside from the fact I have no idea how the hell I got in the hospital or how all you guys are here? Yeah, I'm peachy."

Armin snorted. "I meant with Mikasa."

Eren froze and he dropped his arm back to his side. "Why would you think something is wrong?"

"Well, the look on your face for one and she spent the entire time you were out by your side but now that you're up she's going in the opposite direction."

Eren sighed and reached up to rub his forehead. "I really can't do this right now. Can you just tell me what's going on?"

Armin watched him carefully for a moment but seemed to let it go because he started walking down the hall again. "You've been out for around three days. We were starting to get worried something happened to you when we were separated."

"I take it I got bit again then?" He wasn't sure what else could knock him out like that.

"You could say that."

"Will you cut being cryptic and just tell me?" Eren was starting to get a headache; all he wanted to do was crawl back in that bed so he could forget all this happened.

Armin turned to glance over. "We counted ten bites on your body."

It was Eren's turn to stop in his tracks. "Ten? How the hell did I get bit ten times?"

"You don't remember?" Armin was starting to look a little concerned now.

"No, I don't remember a fucking thing. The last thing I remember before walking up here is seeing Mikasa run after that hoard of Biters and that was it. I obviously saw that she's okay, so I assumed you guys came in to help her and get us in here." Eren almost didn't want to know why he didn't remember anything past that point; the way Armin was acting it couldn't be a good thing.

"No one helped you, kid." That voice was new, very new.

Eren felt himself tense up instantly as he looked a little down the hall to see a dark haired man standing there watching them. He was probably one of the people Mikasa mentioned being here but Eren didn't know who the hell he was or what he wanted.

"You think you had all those bites on you for standing around doing nothing? Those were just the ones they found when they had to clean you up, not the ones that already healed."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Eren growled but his heart was starting to race. He hadn't noticed till that moment he wasn't wearing the clothes he remembered wearing and that for the first time in days his body and hair didn't feel grimy.

"Can we maybe take this inside," Armin suggested, gesturing the door nearby, one Eren recognized very well; it was his dad's office at the hospital.

"Sure, Four Eyes has been practically drooling over meeting him," the man said with a disinterested tone, opening the door and disappearing inside.

Eren followed Armin inside but before he could even get a chance to look around the room someone bounded up to him, grabbing his face in her hands.

"Eren!" the woman gasped like she knew him her whole life. "Look at you! Finally awake. Did you have any dreams? What was the last thing you remember? Do you know-"

"Hanji, will you sit your ass down and let him breathe?"

The woman, Hanji Eren assumed, dropped his face and stepped away, an embarrassed sort of look on her face. "Sorry, I just a little excited. We've been waiting for days for you wake up so we could finally talk to you."

Eren was starting to get a little less confused and a lot more annoyed. "Will someone please just tell me what the fuck going on here?"

"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth, kid?" The man, who Eren just noticed was wearing a uniform of some sort, made it pretty clear that was rhetorical but Eren still wanted to bite back something.

"That's Levi and Hanji," a deep voice called from the back of the office making Eren turn.

A bit of relief filled Eren's chest. "Hey, Reiner, you guys are okay."

The blond man gave him a smile, and Bertholdt even waved but Annie pretty much looked the same as she always did; looking bored sitting on the couch. Jean also had his usual grimaced look on his face as he leaned up against the wall near were Sasha was sitting next to Annie. Sasha was making it very obvious she was trying not to look at Eren at all. He pushed that awkward feeling mixed with sinking feeling that Mikasa was nowhere to be seen away as he glanced back to the two adults.

"Are you military?" Eren asked, wondering if that's where the uniforms came from since Hanji was wearing one too.

"Yes," Hanji nodded. "We were out scouting when we noticed your little show and thought it was best to stick around for a bit."

Military? They might be able to help with this whole mess. They had to have the right resources, equipment-

"Don't get that look in your eyes," Levi grunted as if reading Eren's mind. "Aside from a handful of soldiers we have left at a practically abandoned base, no way to contact anyone, we aren't much help."

"But you, Eren, you could help us. I may need to run a few tests before that of course, but what we could learn-"

"Will you stop running your mouth, we need to hear the kid's story first."

A jolt went through Eren's body. Tests? Why would they... "You know don't you?"

"Hard not to when you got bit all over your damn body and here you are a perfect human," Levi said. "We all saw you run into that hoard of those bastards with just a damn bat and your bare hands. Not that I haven't seen people do stupid shit like that before but they never came out in one piece let alone alive and breathing."

Eren felt a hand on his shoulder as Armin pushed him down into a nearby chair. Really he just wanted to bury his head in his hands and wish this damn headache would go away. All of it. "I did what?"

"We didn't even know you were there," Armin said leaning into him a bit. "Mikasa got it in her heard she could take them on. The next thing we knew you came out of nowhere pushing her away and taking down the entire hoard by yourself." He paused probably to make sure Eren was still breathing. "You passed out shortly after the last one went down and we managed to carry you inside. We had to clean you up which is when we saw all the bites, but they were gone after a day or so."

"Your friends said this wasn't the first time you got bite and didn't turn," Levi said. "They were adamant they didn't know how or why but we needed to hear it from you."

"I…" Eren's head was spinning. He did that? He killed all of them? "I don't know. We haven't been able to figure it out."

The room was quiet for a moment.

"Look." It was Jean who spoke first. "We came all the way out here for a reason, like we told you. We're just looking for his dad. Eren told you what you want to know, can we just get on our separate ways now."

"I'm afraid we can't do that," Hanji said, looking like she actually felt sympathetic as opposed to Levi. "Eren is the only person we've ever seen who is immune; there could be something there to help everyone." She looked over to him. "I'd never do something without your consent of course, which is why I wanted to wait till you woke up. I'd like to run some blood tests and some other basic tests if I could. This place looks like it's got plenty equipment to help."

"Are you a doctor?"

"Scientist, but these are things I know how to do like the back of my hand, promise," she smiled.

Eren didn't know, he honestly didn't know what to do. On one hand what if something in his blood could help? But what if it only proved something horrible about himself? He lost himself when he attacked that hoard. He succumbed to whatever was in his body. Did he really want tests to prove that?

"Can we have a little time?" Armin's voice was soft but firm next to him. "He's probably still exhausted from all of this."

"Fine," Levi said, jumping off the table. "But we need an answer by tonight. C'mon, leave the brats alone for a little bit, Hanji."

She looked like she didn't want to go but she trailed behind Levi out the door.

Eren sighed into his hands the moment the door shut. "Did we at least find anything the office here?"

The silence told Eren all he needed to know. What the hell were they even doing this for? Clearly wherever his dad ran off to he didn't ever want to be found.

Eren nodded, looking back up to the room. "I'm sorry for getting us into this mess, guys."

"It's not your fault," Reiner said. "Anyone would've done the same if they saw someone they loved heading for danger like that."

A jolt went down Eren's spine at Reiner's choice of words. Eren was really just ready to go back to sleep. Maybe when he woke up this day would start over again.

"It doesn't really matter," Jean said. "Those guys know now and even if you say no to the tests they'll still drag you away. They have us and they will never leave us alone until they get what they want."

"You don't know that," Sasha piped up. "They could be telling the truth."

Jean gave her look that said he highly doubted it and Eren had to agree on that. Despite how broken their world was they were still a part of the military and they'd have a duty to bring Eren back as a test subject or whatever which is the opposite of what he wanted. He didn't have much of a choice now he went practically shouted to everyone he was an abnormality.

"I'll just go tell her I'll do the tests." Eren lifted his head. "That way maybe we can get some actual answers. If they want to take me away, fine. At least you guys will be safe on a military base or they could probably bring you back to the lab my mom's at." No one mentioned that was if the lab was even still safe and Eren was grateful for it; that was all he needed to think about.

"I dunno, Eren," Reiner said, looking more nervous than anything. "You don't know what they could do to you."

He pushed himself up to his feet. "Well, its better than wandering around getting nowhere trying to find my dad cause obviously that worked out so well. I'll just do what they want. I'll be fine." Eren wasn't so sure about that but if they could learn something maybe it would make this miserable idea of his worth it. He pulled open the door to the office and headed back into the hallway he come in from; he half expected Mikasa to be standing there waiting for them but she wasn't. There was no sight of Levi or Hanji and Eren realized he actually had no idea where to find them. He'd probably just wander the halls till he did either. Maybe being alone would help.

"Eren, wait." Armin closed the door behind him, no one else following.

"It's okay, it really is. What could it hurt?" he said turning around to face his old friend.

"I think they're good people," Armin said, talking in a hushed tone. "I think they are trying to help, as much as Levi doesn't seem that way. As long as you're okay with what those tests could reveal, then I support your choice."

"What do you mean?"

Armin hesitated. "I mean that the reason you are immune might not be because you're naturally immune."

Eren never really thought about it like that. He just assumed that's the way it was, the way his blood, his body was but could he have been tested on? Injected with something? "Armin, you know how ridiculous that sounds right? I'm not some lab rat that people tested on. Don't you think you or Mikasa would've noticed? This is a virus; some people are immune to viruses."

"Okay, as long as you're alright with it like I said. They're probably down in the cafeteria; they hang out there a lot."

"I am, no need to worry so much. At least we're safe for the time being, enjoy it while you can and thanks, buddy. I remember where it is." Eren started to walk down the hall but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. "I said I was fine, Armin."

"It's not about you." Armin had a different kind of look in his eyes, one Eren couldn't pick out right away. "I don't know what happened with you guys but I know how you two get. Once you're done with Hanji, go talk to Mikasa. Neither of you never like to talk about things but you need to. You're all she has left."

Eren nodded, guilt sinking into the pit of his stomach. "Okay, I will."

Armin gave his shoulder a squeeze before dropping his hand. "Glad you're back."

"Me too."

Where Armin turned off to go, Eren wasn't sure; he didn't actually look back as he started to walk down the halls. It was strange to see this place that normally would be bustling with so many nurse, doctors, patients, just people completely abandoned. He came to visit his dad here countless times but Eren didn't think ever heard it as quiet as it was now.

What was he doing? Aside from causing everyone strife. He dragged them all out here, risked their lives, and for what? Another dead end. He reached a hand up to rub over his face. This was a mistake. He should've just minded his own business and stayed put at the first lab. If he had done that then they wouldn't be stuck at the hospital under the watch of two military personal, Connie would still be here, he wouldn't have blown his secret in front of strangers, and he wouldn't have fucked up everything with Mikasa.

Eren was beginning to think there was nothing good about the things they knew, the things they were piecing together. Obviously his dad wanted nothing to do with them anymore because there was no trace of him anywhere aside from some work place Eren barely remembered. He wanted to be mad at his father, he wanted to be pissed off and just tell everyone what a bastard he was but Eren couldn't do it. Not when all he felt was hurt over the whole thing. His dad abandoned them all when they needed him, when Eren needed him.

There was some talking up a head and that caught Eren's ear. The cafeteria was just around the corner if Eren remembered right so it had to be Levi and Hanji. Eren still wasn't sure how much he trusted them but he had to trust enough to see what was going on with himself. He peered in the window of the door to see Hanji laying on her back on one of the tables, staring up at the ceiling and chattering on about something. Levi was sitting on the bench next to her, arms crossed and grunting every now and then to let her know he was listening.

Eren knocked on the door.

"You can come in," Levi's voice called. "She's just blabbering about God knows what."

Eren went to open the door but Hanji was already on her feet heading to meet him.

"Hey!" she said with a smile. "Did you decide?"

"Jump on the kid why you don't," Levi said but he didn't move from his spot.

Hanji ignored him, her smile never fading.

"Ah, yeah. I thought a bit of blood work would be okay," Eren shrugged. "Like they said, we really don't know too much of what caused it so maybe we can see."

Hanji clasped her hands together. "Perfect! Come with me." She nodded towards the door. "You can stay here, Levi, its fine."

He rolled his eyes. "Are you sure you don't need adult supervision?"

She turned to gently push Eren out the door completely ignoring Levi. "Sorry, about him." She said once the door shut behind them. "He always acts like he's got a very large object up his ass."

Eren snorted, and picked up his pace to keep up with the older woman. "Where're we going?"

Hanji looked a little sheepish again. "I may have set everything up just in case you said yes."

From what he was learning about Hanji he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised. "So do you think you know anything about why I could be immune?"

"Not a clue," she gave him a smile. "That's why we research though. We'd never learn a damn thing if we didn't. Like I said, we never saw anyone who was immune before, and we…saw a lot of people turn." She still seemed like she was perfectly upbeat but Eren couldn't imagine what it must have been like in a military base with thousands of people; the school was a nightmare alone.

"Do you mind me asking how you managed to stay alive?"

She laughed. "I nearly got myself killed dozens of time just trying to get close enough to get samples to run tests one. In fact, I'm pretty sure Levi carried me out of areas to make sure I didn't die." She opened a door to an examination room and gestured for him to go in.

It was a little strange to picture Levi trying to protect anyone from what little Eren knew about him. Eren jumped up on the table, the paper crinkling underneath him.

"It's just us and a handful of others who did survive. Some areas of the base are completely barricaded off because they were so overrun but we managed to keep a section safe for us to work out of." Hanji pulled some gloves off the table. "Shirt off, please."

Eren did as he was told and she started to sterilize parts of his arm, probably where she was going to draw blood.

Hanji let out a low whistle as she prepped the needle. "I can't believe how your body heals. I thought you were beyond dead when we got inside the way you were bit up but here you are, looking like you've never had an injury in your life. I may need to look at that, see if it's connected at all."

He nodded, looking away when Hanji pressed the needle into his veins.

"Where's your pretty little girlfriend? I don't think I've ever seen her away from you."

Great, if the feeling of getting his blood drawn wasn't already making him a little queasy, that thought sure was. "She's not my girlfriend," he mumbled.

"Ahh, well, I'm sorry," Hanji said, her tone never changing. She pulled the needle from him and held a cotton pad to his arm to help with excess bleeding. "Her and Armin kept a good eye on you while you were out. Old friends I assume?"

"Yeah, since we were kids."

Hanji nodded as she grabbed a swab off the table. "Open, please."

Eren opened his mouth and she stuck the swab in there, swirling it all over his gums and tongue. When she was satisfied she removed it and put it in a clear bag.

"The others were worried too, they said they never saw you act like that." There was a change in her tone that time as she fiddled with some bottles on the counter. "Any idea what might've caused it?"

He shrugged, his mouth dry. There was only one time he felt the way he did before he blacked out, back at the house when they got ambushed. "I'm not sure."

"I didn't see the whole thing." Hanji poured something on a cloth and rubbed it over his shoulder. "Levi spotted you guys but I did see Mikasa on the ground behind you. Not many people would risk their lives for someone else. You might not've turned but if you got bit enough you could've lost a lot of blood. Levi said you didn't hesitate to jump in there for her." Hanji grabbed a thin cloth and rubbed it over the same spot on his shoulder. "If I know one thing, it's that people who do that can be trusted." She put that cloth in a bag too before leaning up against the counter, watching him.

"I saw people run, I saw them shove other people in front of them so they wouldn't get hurt, I saw cowardice everywhere I looked when this all happened. But I saw the few people who pushed the others out of the way, a few that took the blows for someone else, ones who kept the danger at bay so others could escape one who carried me to safety more than one time. Those are the ones I knew I could trust. You're a good kid, Eren, I don't have to know you for years to know that. I know you want to help this world, to keep your friends safe. I want that too, so does Levi." She paused for a moment. "I know there are things you don't want to share with us, and I understand. How can you trust anyone in this shit hole? But I hope maybe you'll be able to trust us too."

Eren didn't know what to say, not just because he was caught off guard but because he actually believed her words. "Thank you, Hanji, for, um, doing this."

She waved him off. "Thank you, now I have something to do for the rest of the afternoon. I'll let you know as soon as I know something."

He nodded, grabbing his shirt and slipping it over his head before pushing himself to his feet. Eren gave her a wave before heading back out into the empty all. The sun was already setting outside, the hallway getting darker as he walked. Despite the fact he slept for days, he never felt more exhausted.

He assumed Armin didn't share their entire story with Levi and Hanji, and obviously she knew they were keeping things from them. Would it be right to trust them? To tell them about Eren's father, the lab, the Titans? Maybe they could help, maybe there was something they could do? But Armin didn't even tell the others about everything let alone people they had never met before. Eren didn't know. What he did know is that he was starting to get a headache again.

There was something else he had to do before he went to bed, and as much as he didn't want to confront Mikasa after earlier, he knew he'd never be able to sleep if he didn't. He had to talk to her, to apologize. Hopefully there was some part of their friendship that was salvageable. The thought sent his stomach turning. Did he even want to go back to the want things were before? Or did he want her to know the reason he didn't stop was because it was a taste of what he ignored for so long.

Between figuring out to do with Mikasa and waiting for the tests to come back, Eren knew it was gonna be a long night.


	14. The Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Choice
> 
> Summary: Eren knows he needs to talk to Mikasa, but how can he when he can’t even find her? When she doesn’t want to be found? Between her and the impending results from the tests Hani ran Eren couldn’t remember a time his stomach was in knots so bad. Why couldn’t things be normal? Why did all this have to happen?  
> Pairing: Eren/Mikasa  
> Rating: M (Sexual Situations and Language)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, gonna get some answers this time (and some other things as well ;3). Thank you all for being patient with us. I know this one took a bit longer than normal, but I tried to make it up for you guys haha

Eren felt like he was wandering the halls of the hospital for hours. He stayed on the floor his dad’s office was on since he assumed that’s where everyone was staying, and he didn’t know how safe the other floors were. He should’ve probably asked if they did any searches to see if there was any impending danger but no one mentioned it to him so he guessed it was okay. It was kinda nice to be alone after feeling like he went through a whirlwind of people and new information since the moment he woke up till now. A part of him just wanted to find an empty room and sleep the rest of the day away and hope tomorrow would be better but Eren knew Armin was right.

They were all Mikasa had left, Eren couldn’t just leave her upset like that but the thought of going to talk to her after what happened had his stomach turning. He was never too good at talking about how he was feeling to anyone, least of all Mikasa who always seemed to catch on pretty well without him having to say a word. This was different though.

This was very different and he had no idea how to handle it.

Eren supposed his first step would be to find out where she was hiding but even after wandering all the empty and abandoned halls he couldn’t seem to find her. Granted if Mikasa didn’t want to be found it was gonna be harder but Eren knew he could find her, he always did. He looked in every room he walked by on both sides of every hallway he wandered down. He wasn’t even sure how far away he was from the others .

Eren peered in another room in the hall. That one looked like someone had slept in it at least, well that or it was remaining from when there were people in this hospital.

He remembered when they were younger, probably only twelve, she got into a fight with her parents and then she just disappeared. Mr. and Mrs. A practically had a heart attack over it because it was so unlike Mikasa to run away.  Her parents went over his house to see if Mikasa hid there but Eren hadn’t seen her; he had a funny feeling he knew where she went though. He hopped on his bike and rode down to the park where he found Mikasa sitting alone by the pond. Eren thought about just telling her to get her ass back home before her father called the whole squad out to look for her but he didn’t do it. He just sat down next to her and waited until she was ready for him to walk her back home.

Mikasa liked to go someplace soothing when she was upset.  The water moving in the pond always made her feel calm, relaxed, probably helped clear her head.

Eren quickly turned down a side hallway, heading down a completely opposite direction than he intended too. He was assuming she was in the residential halls, hiding in a bed and trying to sleep but if she was still upset she wouldn’t have done that. There wasn’t any body of water in the hospital save for the therapy pools but that wasn’t the kinda water that would’ve helped Mikasa.

He stopped when he reached the waiting room for his dad’s wing of the hospital. The sun was setting lower and lower but it looked like the backup generators were still running cause the emergency lights were starting to turn on keeping the room from turning pitch black and keeping the fountain in the room still running. It was an entire wall of the lobby that had water running down it, lights making the water shine against the rocky background, splashing down into some green plants at the bottom. Him, Mikasa and Armin used to come sit by it when they were waiting for Eren’s dad to come out just because it was fun to stick your hands in it when no one was looking.

Mikasa was sitting on the waiting room couch next to the fountain, her eyes watching the water. She didn’t move an inch when he stepped into the room; she didn’t even move when he sat down next to her.

He leaned his elbows down on his legs, hunching his back over. Eren didn’t know what to say to her, how to explain his actions, least of all how to explain his feelings. He wanted to apologize to her for what he did but it felt so good to be that close to her was he really sorry? The only time she pushed him away was when Sasha walked in so was she all that sorry too?

Eren reached up to rub his forehead; that headache was coming back again. He had to say something. He had to do something. He glanced over at her, her eyes still staring at the fountain and away from him. “Hey, Mikasa?”

“Yes?” She didn’t look at him but at least she was acknowledging him now.

He hesitated. What was he gonna even ask her? “What was it like? You know, when we…when we were separated?”

She was quiet that time, so quiet Eren didn’t even think she’d answer him. “I was scared,” she said when she did speak. “I didn’t know if you were alive or dead or if I’d ever see you again.” Mikasa finally looked over at him but her face was unreadable even to Eren. “Why did you do that? Why did you leave me behind? I could’ve helped you. You know I could’ve.”

“Mikasa, when I saw the Titans kill Connie my first reaction was not who I wanted with me the most but to get you and everyone else out of there as fast as I could. I wasn’t gonna leave Sasha behind so even if it scared me to the core that I might never see you again, at least I knew my last knowledge of you would be that you were with our friends and safe.”

Mikasa paused for a moment. “Titans…you mean the ones that…?”

“Yeah, sorry, that’s what Sasha started calling them and it kinda stuck.”

“No, it fits…it makes sense.”

They settled back down in silence, unsure how to continue the conversation. It was so strange; he just always knew what to say to Mikasa whether to make her feel better or for her to make him feel better. The brief time they shared earlier in the day was hanging over them though. Eren knew Mikasa would never bring it up herself, that’s just how she was. It would have to be him. He dropped his eyes to the marble floor under his feet.

He swallowed even though his throat was dry. “So when I saw you again and saw that you were safe it was a little overwhelming. I just…” Eren looked up at her only to see her eyes already watching him. “I missed you, more than I think I even knew. You were alive and you were still with me. I was relieved. The last memory I had of you was that you were walking in front of all those Biters and it… it all just kinda came out.”

“I understand.” Her voice was softer than usual this time. “I know how that felt.”

Eren reached his hands up to hold her face, forcing her to look him in the eyes. He didn’t know if he was crossing a line again but he had an aching need in the pit of his stomach to just touch her. “Promise me, no matter what happens to me you won’t ever do anything like that again.”

She nodded. “Okay, I promise.”

This time he was unsure if it was him or if it was her but he was kissing her again and he had no desire to stop. Eren moved his hands from her face up into her hair, feeling the silky strands through his fingers. Her hands pressed up against his chest as she kissed him and he heard the way her breath hitched in her throat.

Mikasa’s hands gripped into his shirt as she started to push at his chest. With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach he thought she was pushing him away but she never broke their kiss. Warmth once again filled his body when his back was pressed down on the couch, Mikasa’s legs on either side of his hips. He dropped his hands to her thighs, running his fingers up her soft skin to the edges of her shorts. She made a small noise against his mouth and it sent shivers down his spine.

Eren trailed his mouth along her jaw, reaching a hand up to pull at her scarf. He loosened it enough for him to kiss the skin of her neck she normally kept hidden. This time no one unexpected started to speak, no one walked in; it was just them

Her hands were clenched tight in his shirt and her body squirmed a bit on top of him, her hips rubbing into his. With a groan Eren grabbed onto her hips, holding them still over him. The way she was kissing him, her body up against his in all the right places, her grip on him, that fact that it was Mikasa and everything felt about her all had his arousal getting harder by the second. There was no way she couldn’t have noticed that by now.

“Mikasa…” he tried but his voice was hoarse and he had no idea how to finish that sentence when her eyes met his.

She sat up on him, her thighs still tight around his. She tugged her scarf off and let it drop to the floor. Grabbing the hem of her shirt she pulled it up and over her head before letting it fall to the floor with her scarf. Her cheeks were tinted red as she sat in front of him in just her shorts and bra. Mikasa didn’t always speak with her words but with actions. Eren knew her; he knew this was her telling him she was okay, this was okay. He sat up so she was in his lap and mimicked her action, pulling his own shirt off and tossing it away.

They sat there for a moment, breath heavy and bare skin practically brushing, close enough to feel heat radiating between them. His eyes met hers again and Eren knew it was him this time. He wrapped his arms around her waist and nearly slammed his lips to hers. He tried to hold back a groan at the feeling of her skin pressed flush against his but he lost that control when she ran her hands down his back, nails brushing over his skin.

Eren kissed back over her jaw and down her neck. He didn’t miss the way she gasped as her head rolled back to give him more room. Her fingers dug into his back when he nipped at her neck, mouth trailing open kisses down her collar bone till he reached the soft skin at the top of her breast.

He wanted to ask himself what was he doing but he already knew. This was Mikasa, they were best friends since they were nine but she was also the person he was finding day after day he couldn’t live without. She was still here. She was okay and she was still with him.

Eren trailed his hands up her back till he reached the clasp on her bra. With a slight tug the fabric went slack against her skin and Mikasa let it join the growing pile of clothes on the floor. He ran his hands up her stomach stopping just before where she was now bare before him. He looked up at her, her eyes watching him and cheeks shaded red.

She was always beautiful, but this was something entirely different. She was beautiful in every aspect that was herself. He reached up to tangle his fingers around the back of her head and pulled her into him, his lips hitting hers again. Eren groaned when her chest pressed into his, her hands tightening on his shoulders and mouth kissing him back. He slipped a hand between them, running his palm over her breast. She gasped against him, her back arching into his touch.

He grabbed down on her as he broke their kiss, trailing his lips across her jaw, down her neck until he reached the soft skin that had been covered by her bra. Keeping his hand rubbing on her, he let his mouth kiss over her other breast, her own hands grasping onto his hair as he did. Eren ran his tongue over her hard nipple and causing a cry from her lips, her hips rolling down on his. He moaned against her, his hips bucking up grinding his throbbing arousal into her.

Eren couldn’t take much more of this. He grabbed a hold of Mikasa, one hand on her back and one on her ass, sliding her down until she was laying back on the couch. His lips hit her skin again, trailing down between her breasts to her stomach. His hands rested on the waist of her shorts. He desperately wanted to touch more of her but he hesitated, unsure if that would be okay.

Mikasa seemed to understand the question in his touch, She reached down to undo the bottom and zipper of her shorts, helping him slide them down till she was just in her panties under him. Eren groaned against her skin when he brushed his fingers over the damp front of her underwear. He put a bit more pressure behind his touch, rubbing her through the thin material.

“Eren,” she gasped, sending chills down his spine. Her back arched up, hands still tight in his hair. “You aren’t being very fair.”

“Is that so?” he murmured, pushing aside her underwear to run his fingers along her wet folds.

She withered under him, another cry on her lips but instead of tugging on his hair like she had been she dropped a hand down to his chest then to the front of his shorts. Mikasa pressed her palm up against his erection, rubbing down in such an agonizing way Eren couldn’t hold back a moan.

“Yeah,” she said, running her hand back up him. “I think so.”

His head fell against her chest, hips rolling into her touch. He slipped a finger inside her heat, thumb still rubbing over her. Mikasa bucked her hips into his hand, cries falling from her lips as her own hand grabbed onto him through the fabric of his shorts, moving against him as best she could. Eren really couldn’t take much more of this. Heat was filling the pit of his stomach with every brush of her hand. He nearly lost it when she popped the button on his shorts, hand slipping down until she was grasping onto his throbbing erection with nothing in between her hand and his sensitive skin. “Fuck,” he groaned, rolling his hips against her hand. He pressed another finger in her, curling them up until she was crying out.

“Eren,” she gasped. “Please.”

He lifted his head to look up at her, to ask her if she was sure this is what she wanted. While sharing his first with her was something that felt completely right, he wanted to make sure she felt the same but he didn’t have to ask. He knew that look in her eyes. He sat up off her so he could toss his shorts and boxers to the ground and kick off his shoes. When he looked back she already lost her underwear as well, leaving her bare before him. His breath caught in his throat just looking at her.

When Eren leaned back over her he pressed his hips to hers, already having to bite back a groan at feeling her warmth against his arousal. He reached a hand up to the back of her head, pulling her in till he was kissing her. She hands slipped around his neck, fingers gripping onto him when he pushed himself into her. Mikasa gasped against his lips and while it wasn’t one of pain, he kept his hips still to her and himself a moment. Her walls pulsing against him was almost too much. She felt too good, too right.

Mikasa rolled her hips up into him and Eren had to drop his head against her shoulder with a low moan. He reached his shaking hands down to her hips, grasping onto her as he started to move his own hips. He tried to keep his motions steady, trying to keep a grip on himself but the way her hands were tangled in his hair, his name on her lips, her whole presence surrounding him it was overwhelming.

She wrapped her legs up around his waist, urging his motions on, her hips reaching to meet his. He took one hand off her, reaching up to grab onto her breast, her back arching into him when he did. Eren didn’t even know all the emotions he was feeling but he knew only Mikasa could make him feel this way. She was always there for him even when he hadn’t always been there for her. This was something he wanted with her. In this fucked up world they found themselves in, she was still here. He never wanted to let her go.

Heat seared in the pit of his stomach, tension coiling up with every roll of his hips into her, with every cry from her lips, the burning touch of their skin. “Mikasa…I…” he tried but his words fell into a groan.

She ran her hands through his hair, a soothing motion he knew well. He felt the tension in his body release, pleasure rolling through him like a wave. Her name fell from his lips, white filling his vision. He was aware of how her own body tensed, hips rolling furiously into him as her released mixed with his.

Eren stayed where he was, hands still on her, his face buried against her unsure if he even had the strength to move. She peppered light kisses in his hair, hand still running against his head. When he did push himself up to grab his fallen clothes off the floor he instantaneously regretted it, missing the warmth of her body. She sat up as well, slipping back into her clothes without a word. He stood and watched her, completely at a loss of what to say. He knew he should say something but he had no idea what to tell her, how to tell her what he felt for her.

“Eren?” Mikasa asked as she turned back around to face him, her voice breaking the silence, though it still sounded soft against the water fountain nearby.

“Yeah?” he said probably too eagerly for something to say.

“Would it be okay if we…if we stayed here a little longer?” She looked unsure, like she didn’t know if she should be asking or maybe she just didn’t know what she was supposed to say either.

“Yeah, of course,” Eren sat back down on the couch, laying his side against the firm pillows and gestured for her to follow.

She laid down next to him, legs brushing up against his as she tucked her head against his chest. Eren let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, draping his arm over her waist to make sure she didn’t fall off. He didn’t know what he should say but he knew this with her, there was nothing that made more sense. She seemed to feel the same, her body at ease as she laid next to him.

Eren rubbed his hand against her lower back, the material of her shirt feeling kinda familiar for some reason. He looked down at her and the long sleeved shirt that was obviously too big for her. “Are you wearing my shirt?” he murmured, a smile pulling at his lips.

“No.”

“Bullshit, Mikasa. I know my own clothing.”

She was quiet for a moment. “Maybe.”

Eren leaned his head against hers and let his eyes shut. The emergency lights were pretty dim and between the steady beat of Mikasa’s heartbeat against his chest, the familiar soothing sound of the fountain he found himself not wanting to open his eyes again. He knew he should talk to Mikasa, about what happened, about what it meant to him, about what she meant to him but he could tell by her rhythmic breathing she was already falling asleep as well. Who knew the last time she even slept a full night was; if she was anything like he was then it probably wasn’t until before they all got separated.

Tomorrow. He’d talk to her tomorrow. For now, nothing seemed more appealing than sleeping for a little while. For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, Mikasa’s warm presence lulled him off to sleep just like it always had.

Eren knew he slept too long when he heard someone calling his name. He lifted his head off the couch pillow, blinking at the waiting room that seemed a whole lot brighter than he remembered it being. Mikasa was still curled into him, her arms wrapped around him and legs tangled with his. Warmth filled the pit of his stomach up into his chest when the memories of yesterday started to replay in his head.

“In here,” Eren called out drowsily. He had no idea who was shouting his name but he could hear some distant footsteps down the hallway. He looked over to one of the windows, the sunlight shinning in and making the white room seem even brighter. It was morning already.

“There you guys are,” Armin said, stepping into the room. “I suppose I should’ve checked here when you weren’t in either of your rooms.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Eren yawned, Mikasa starting to stir next to him. “We fell asleep, you know how that fountain is.”

“As long as you’re safe doesn’t matter to me,” Armin said. “Morning, Mikasa.”

“Morning,” she waved though a little meekly.

For a moment, Eren wondered if Armin could tell as he watched Eren help Mikasa up off the couch. The way Eren held her hand longer, that when he pulled her up he didn’t move away making her body brush into his. He wondered if there was something that visibly changed between the two of them after yesterday. If Armin did, he didn’t say anything, he just gestured for them to follow him down the hall.

“C’mon, I want to fill you in a little bit with everyone,” Armin said, walking beside Eren down back to where his dad’s office was.

“What is there to fill in?” Eren asked. “You said there was nothing that helped us in there. What we need is to figure out where we’re going next.”

Armin gave him a little of a guilty look. “Well, I wasn’t one hundred percent honest with you yesterday and I’m sorry for that but I didn’t want Levi and Hanji to know just in case.”

“You found something?” Eren nearly stopped in the middle of the hall, his heart starting to race.

“We did, well, Mikasa did,” Armin said. “Sasha has it in the office which is where everyone is save for Levi and Hanji, I think she’s still running those tests you took yesterday.”

Eren’s heart sunk. With everything that went on yesterday he forgot he was waiting on the results of whatever Hanji could find in his blood. “Did she say they were done?”

Armin shook his head. “Not that I know of.”

Eren felt his mouth go dry. Between the tests and what they could’ve found about his dad, Eren felt like he was being torn in different directions. What if all of this changed everything he thought of himself or his dad? Eren knew that was always possibility but now there would be firm proof one way or another. 

Mikasa placed her hand on his as they walked, gently slipping it into his. It was a comforting feeling; she was telling him it was okay, that no matter what it would be okay. He looked over to her, her hesitant eyes asking if that was alright. He laced his fingers with hers; if Armin noticed that, which he probably had to, he still didn’t say anything. He just continued to lead them down another hallway, the residential rooms disappearing and the offices starting to line the walls.

“I wanted everyone here so it doesn’t seem suspicious,” Armin said. “But try to keep as much of it as you can to yourself. As glad as I’ve been for Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt’s help, the less people involved the better.”

Eren nodded watching Armin swing open the door to the office room Eren spent a few mind numbing moments in yesterday.

“There you guys are,” Sasha said, sitting on Dr. Jaeger’s desk. She eyed them a little bit probably to see if she still needed to feel awkward for walking in on them. “We wondered where you went.”

Mikasa let go of Eren’s hand quickly, slipping in to lean against the wall. “There’s a lobby we used to hang out when we visited. I wanted to see if the fountain was still running.”

“Was it?” Reiner asked. He was sitting on the couch with Bertholdt and Annie, Jean sitting on the armrest with them.

“Yeah, it was,” Eren said walking over to Sasha. “Do you have it?” Not only did he want to see what it was, he also wanted to change the topic. How he spent his night was the last thing he wanted to talk to anyone about. His stomach sunk a little when he realized he still hadn’t even gotten to talk to Mikasa about it.

Sasha nodded but didn’t move until Armin shut the door and locked it. She removed a box from her back before passing it to Eren. “Look familiar?”

Eren held the box in his hands. It was about the size of a cigar box, wooden and smooth. “No, I never saw anything like this before; here or at my house.” It was heavy, and when he shook it some things moved around inside. Something was in there that was clear enough.

“Mikasa found it hidden in the desk. Whoever was here first must’ve over looked it or thought it was nothing,” Armin said. “I almost thought it was nothing until I saw the key hole.”

Eren tilted the box up and sure enough in the front was a pretty large key hole, one maybe something that an antique key would open. With a jolt Eren remembered the key he placed over his neck in the lab. It seemed like so long ago he forgot about it. Trying to keep his hand from shaking he pulled the string from under his shirt, the metal key falling out.

“Where the hell did you get that?” Jean asked.

“From the lab, the abandoned one,” Eren answered, sliding the key into the lock. “It was hidden in my dad’s office.”

The room was quiet as Eren turned the key, the lock clicking and the top popping open. He placed the box on the desk and tried to remember to breathe as he opened the top. There were quite a few papers in there, research notes from what it looked like and some formulas. Eren passed the stack to Armin who might be able to read them better than Eren could. There were some pictures but not of anything Eren recognized. They were of particles with notes scribbles on the backs, and then there were some of bodies lying on metal tables. They looked dead but Eren couldn’t tell nor could he make out the notes on the back. He went to pass them to Armin as well but noticed Annie had come over to look at the notes.

“I read my dad’s research sometimes,” Annie shrugged when she noticed Eren’s gaze. “I might be able to decipher it too.”

Eren handed her the pictures. She had a point, her dad was working at the same lab, and there might be a connection between his work and Eren’s dad’s work. Mikasa came over to stand next to Eren, her body leaning up against the desk as she looked down at the last thing in the box. Eren saw it too but he found that he couldn’t reach for it. It was a folded piece of paper with his name on it.

Mikasa reached in to grab the paper placing it in his hand. “He wanted you to have this, you should read it.”

His father left them, Eren wanted to say. He wanted to tell her how his dad abandoned them when they needed him most leaving behind cryptic clues that didn’t even make sense but Eren found himself opening the note. He swallowed a lump in his throat before looking over the familiar handwriting.

_Eren,_ it read. _I don’t know if this will ever get to you but I tried to leave it in a way that it would only get to you. If you’re finding this I know everything in your world must seem like a horrible nightmare and I can never be able to apologize for the things I’ve done, most of all the things I’ve done to you. But, son, I did it because I know you. I couldn’t stop it but you can. You can’t fix the world, but you can stop it from getting worse. Keep Armin and Mikasa safe and close, and don’t trust anyone. You’ll know what to do when the time comes. I love you, Eren. Right the wrongs done by people who never deserved to have that much power. It’s the only way._

There was some gibberish at the bottom but Eren couldn’t make it out even if his head wasn’t spinning. What was his dad going on about? Eren knew his dad was acting really weird up until this whole thing happened but this note was ridiculous. What could Eren do that someone else couldn’t do? And what was his dad going on about apologizing for?

There was a knock on the door. “Hello?” Hanji’s voice called. “I think you guys are in there at least. If you are could I please talk to Eren? Well, me and Levi that is. Armin and Mikasa can come too cause I’m pretty sure they already will anyway.”

Eren shoved the note from his dad in his pocket while Armin passed the notes and pictures to Annie; he probably didn’t want Hanji seeing them just yet. Mikasa was watching Eren with her forehead furrowed and he tried to wave her off but something just didn’t sit right with him about that note. Something was off.

Armin unlocked the door and stepped outside with Mikasa and Eren following.

“Is it about the tests?” Eren asked when Armin shut the door behind them.

Hanji nodded looking excited while Levi looked the polar opposite. “Yes, I got some results back. Follow me, I’ll show you.” She started to walk down the hall, the one Eren recognized that led him to the room she tested him in.

“Why do you have to show them?” Levi snorted. “It’s not like any of them can follow your detailed reports.”

“Because I want to make sure they know I’m telling them the truth,” Hanji said. “Trust is very important, Levi, and I’d like to earn theirs the right way.”

Levi grunted in response, clearly not caring one way or another.

Hanji opened the door for them and waited till everyone was in before closing it. “Just in case, I want you to have this information first.”

“Thanks,” Eren said reaching up to rub his forehead. Really he wanted to know what the results were so he could see how that worked into any of this information they got from his father; if anything was even coherent that is.

“First and foremost,” Hanji said holding up a piece of paper that Levi was right about. Eren had no idea what it was trying to say. “It’s not a natural immunity. There were traces some sort of injection in your blood. It had to have been done multiple times over a period of time, kinda like a vaccination. Do you have any memory of something like that?”

_I can never be able to apologize for the things I’ve done, most of all the things I’ve done to you._ Eren saw himself on a metal table laying down asking his dad why he had to get shots but his dad just laughed and gave him some excuse. Eren saw himself as a kid, as a pre-teen, a teenager, a few months ago. “No,” Eren breathed, reaching his hand out to hold onto the examination table. “Nothing like that.”

Hanji made a noise but didn’t press him. “Another thing I noticed was it moved very similarity to when I examined the blood of the infected but clearly not the same since you have immunity where the other virus turns people.  Unfortunately, I don’t have access to good enough equipment here to look more into it.”

“So what does that mean?” Eren asked wishing his head would stop spinning.

“It means she wants to take all you brats to our base where we have more equipment to dissect you,” Levi said from his spot against the wall.

“Not dissect,” Hanji tutted. “Don’t scare the boy. I can just run more tests there and try and see what we can figure out about you and the virus in general. Well, I mean I assume you guys figured out it was a virus that caused all of this. I want to see if you have an opposite strand or something that cancels the virus out, then that would be huge.”

“You want us to come to a military base for testing?” Eren said. “Would that be it?”

“We have a well-stocked and protected section of a military base, kid, you and your friends would be safe unlike you are now running in the wilderness,” Levi said. “Do this for four eyes and you’d have our protection.”

“Well, let them think about it for a moment, Levi,” Hanji said. “There was one more thing I wanted to ask though. Because there were different but similar strands, it made me think could there be different types of viruses that affect people differently. Have you seen anything unusual like that? We haven’t but you kids travelled pretty far from what I’ve been told.”

Eren’s mouth went dry as his heart clenched. He could still hear Connie’s screams in his ears.

“Yes,” Mikasa answered, her tone as even as always. “We have. They were double the size of a normal human and seemingly could think like a human. They didn’t want to just eat, they wanted to hunt. They killed one of our friends with its bare hands.”

Hanji’s smile faded from her face, a look of shock replacing it.

“We need to get that news back to base ASAP,” Levi said pushing himself off the wall. “You brats can have a few moments but I want an answer in no less than a half hour or we’re leaving you here. If there’s bigger threats here we need to prepare.”

“Understandable,” Armin said opening the door. “I want to talk it over with everyone and we’ll have an answer.”

Levi nodded but Hanji was still watching them a hand over her mouth. It looked like she was stuck between asking for more info and wanting to be respectful. Eren followed Armin out the door not wanting to be the one to give that information. Mikasa closed the door behind them and they started to walk back down to the office. It was too much, all of this was too much.

“My dad,” Eren choked out. “My dad did this to me.”

“It’s okay, Eren,” Armin said like he already knew.

“He left me a note.”

“We can go over it with the notes in the box when we have time to ourselves,” Armin said. “We have more answers now, we can figure all this out and maybe even find out where your dad went.”

Eren nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets and feeling the paper he shoved in there. What were you doing, Dad?

“Let’s just figure out what everyone wants to do first.” Armin opened the door to Dr. Jeager’s office but when he halted before he even stepped in and Eren knew something was wrong. The room was quiet, much too quiet for five people.  

Armin saw them first, rushing over to the fallen bodies of Sasha and Jean; Sasha laying out in front of the desk and Jean unconscious by the couch. “They’re fine, they’re still breathing.”

Eren felt relief that his friends were okay but it was quickly replaced by panic gripping his chest. “Where’s the box?” he asked looking over to the desk where he left it. “And the notes?”

Armin quickly left the room but where he was going Eren had no idea.

“Here,” Mikasa said, her voice not giving him much hope as she tapped something on the desk. “This wasn’t here before.”

Eren walked over slowly knowing the small piece of paper laying where he left the box couldn’t be anything he wanted to see. It was a yellow sticky note with two words on it: “I’m sorry.”

Armin ran back in the room, panting trying to catch his breath. “Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt are gone.”

 


	15. The Military

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Military
> 
> Summary: What were they supposed to do now? With Annie, Bertholdt, and Reiner gone taking the only bit of information they had from Dr. Jaeger, Hanji and Levi wanting everyone to go to wherever the hell their base was for more tests, and the way Eren could barely look at Mikasa without feeling a horrible tightening in his chest he just had no idea what to do. Eren didn't know what he was supposed to do.  
> Pairing: Eren/Mikasa  
> Rating: M (For Language)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG I'm sorry this took so long, guys. Thank you so much for sticking with me. I had some personal issues to work through and it left me not desiring to write at all. I've been working through some things though and feeling so much better! Also special thank you to Nati, who started reading this as I was trying to force myself to write the chapter and encouraged me every day with her kind and helpful reviews! You're fabulous. Always a big thanks to Jason who helps me with my bad spelling and works out all the kinks for me!

Eren looked up at the hospital building in front of him from the seat of his bike. The sun was still high in the sky, the air warming up the longer he sat in the parking lot. He heard the distance voices of Hanji talking over near where the SUV was idling, but he had no idea if she was even saying anything important. All he could do was keep looking up at the building, the one that was supposed to answer his questions but all it did was make things worse. They sacrificed so much just to get to this place, and it only left them worse off than they were.

He could almost feel the note in his pocket, like a weight pulling him down to the gravel. All he wanted to do was just ask his dad why? Why did all of this happen? Why did he have to do the things he did? Was there really no other way? Why did he leave them? Why? But they were questions Eren doubted would ever be answered. He didn't even know where his dad was let alone if he was still alive. Maybe something in that box could've helped answer something, helped make all of this mess go away but that was gone too thanks to people Eren was stupid enough to trust.

No one had answers. No one was coming to help. They were alone.

A car door slammed shut causing Eren to look up to see everyone already in the SUV, Jean at the wheel and Levi in the passenger's seat. Mikasa was the only one who was still outside the car, walking towards him. His breath hitched as he watched her make her way across the parking lot. He supposed it shouldn't have surprised him that she'd ride with him. He was surprised though; surprised she still even wanted to be around him after they found out God knows what was injected into his body, after what happened between them.

"Levi is gonna lead them through the city," Mikasa said before she came to a stop in front of him. "He said the base wasn't too far away and most of it was through the back woods so there shouldn't be too much risk for you on the bike."

Eren swallowed thickly. "Okay."

A strange sort of silence fell over them, one that made Eren's stomach clench. He never felt uncomfortable around her in his life, being with Mikasa was like breathing. It was just between every thing that happened, there was no room for him to actually say anything about what had went on between them.

Granted he had no idea what he was supposed to say if he was given the chance.

Mikasa shifted her weight a little. "Is it okay if I…?" She gestured to him, to the bike.

"Oh, yeah, course. You don't have to ask."

She swung her leg over and slipped on the back of the bike without another word and Eren tried not to let her see the breath of relief that fell through his lips. Her warm body was pressed up close to his back, bringing him the comfort that only she brought. This was stupid. This was Mikasa who was always by his side and nothing would ever change that.

Eren had a feeling something did change. Somewhere along the way something changed.

The SUV slowly drove by him, taking its place as the leader, and Mikasa wrapped her arms around Eren's waist, her chin just above his shoulder. He knew riding on a bike wasn't the best place to talk to her either as the engine revved loudly around them, as he kicked his legs up and started to follow after the car driving through the empty hospital grounds. Eren saw a few Biters lurking around but any that was left from the other day must've moved on for more people to eat or whatever.

What would he say to her if given the chance? Hey, I know I got shot up with some shit from my dad and what effects it could actually be having on me aside from the handy immunity so I'm offering myself up to get prodded at like cattle and I know we've been best friends since we were kids but I think I'm in love with you.

A jolt went down his spine at the words spoken aloud in his head. It was strange to think that he was in love with her, but at the same time it filled his mind with a sort of ease. It just made sense to him, but God could he wven say those words to her? Say them knowing what could become of him? Eren wanted to groan at the thought alone.

Just add it to the tally mark of shit this world had become.

Eren followed the van off the hospital owned area and back onto the main streets of what was once the city. It was pretty much the same as when Eren drove Sasha in just a few days before. It was still empty of human life, but Biters still lingered around every corner. The van drove slowly and in turn so did Eren. It made him a little nervous to be taking it so slow with Biters on the street, down almost every alley but he also understood Jean was probably trying to avoid too much engine noise so they didn't get swarmed which Eren knew was far worse than a stray Biter getting too close.

To be honest Eren didn't even know there was a military base outside the city but then again it's not exactly something he ever actively looked for. Should they even be trusting Levi and Hanji? Neither of them seemed to be trying to scam them, or lure them out in the woods to kill them but Annie and them seemed like they were on the right side too.

How could Eren have been so stupid? He barely even remembered Annie from when they were kids, why did he let them just waltz right in? Armin made sure Eren knew that no one blamed him for what happened. Well, no one save for maybe Jean; he had that shitty condescending look on his face almost the entire time they were discussing what to do even if he never said anything.

Eren sped the bike up when the SUV did. They were nearing the city line, the suburbs coming back into view even if it was a different way than Eren and Sasha came in.

Maybe it was because they were just kids like them; lost kids who were trying to survive. Maybe they didn't even know what they planning on doing until they saw that box and what it contained. Just thinking about it was giving him a headache. There was no use trying to figure out what Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt were thinking when there was absolutely no way to know. They were gone and probably never coming back. They were probably on their way to give whatever information was in that box to whoever they were working for, well, if they were even working for anyone. They had to be didn't they? Why else would they run? What other purpose would they have to take something and leave then to go tell someone? To go act on something?

Eren nearly groaned. Beating it around in his head wasn't gonna help any. In fact it was likely to make it worse, still, he couldn't help but agonize over what consequence his actions might've brought them. What kinda hands did this information land in? What if because of his eagerness to trust information that could've saved people would be twisted to hurting people, hurting the people he loved?

Mikasa arms tensed around Eren's waist making his attention to snap out of his mind and back onto the road. He was riding a little too close for comfort to the SUV, though in his defense the SUV was driving at like twenty-five miles per hour.

"Jean's been paying too close attention to how Armin drives," Eren said. He knew she heard when she laughed a little; the sound alone had a smile pulling at his lips.

"Not everyone has a lead foot like you. Sometimes cautious is good."

"Yeah, if I don't fall asleep while driving."

"We're almost past the city lines, it'll be safer there."

She was right but that didn't mean he didn't want to just drive now. He opened his mouth to say something to her but the way she settled easily back into silence made him stop.

It was never like this before; they never had any sort of discomfort, any sort of hesitation. Even the other night, everything was so natural, so easy between them. Maybe it was once the haze was lifted he was left with facing what his actions meant to him…and to her. Even at the thought of that night, the feeling of her lips on his, her skin against his, her voice, her touch, it has his heart leaping up into his throat, heat pooling in the pit of his stomach.

Eren was more than a little thankful when they finally hit the city line and Jean started driving like someone under the age of forty. Eren sped up the bike, letting the air hit his face, watching the pavement start to speed by. He was grateful for the rush of adrenaline to give his mind a break from the thoughts that were plaguing it; even if it was a little hard to let go of everything when Mikasa was still holding tightly onto him, her face against his shoulder as she looked out to the side of the road. Despite everything, she was still a comfort to him. He'd never want that to change no matter what was changing between them.

The thing that surprised Eren the most was that the military base really wasn't that far away from the city, or maybe he wasn't paying attention to time, just making sure no Biters ran in front of them from the woods. Once the SUV turned down a road where a small road gate was swung open and a sign that said "No Trespassing. Authorized Personnel Only. No Outlet. Violators Will Be Prosecuted" he got the feeling they were pretty close.

The SUV slowed down again but probably only because past the trees was a wide open area, fields all around them. Eren saw a few groups of Biters lingering around the edge of the forest but they didn't seem too interested in anything the vehicles were doing. Eren glanced around the car trying to see if he could actually spot the base from where they were but all he saw was a tall, metal gate, towers standing above it every so often; most of which probably had some snipers in it or something. That could be why there were so few Biters around. Though, that might be something from the movies, Eren admittedly had no idea. No one in his family was ever in the military before; Mikasa's dad was the closest they got.

"I think they're guards at the gate," Mikasa said but how she saw better than Eren he wasn't too sure. Not that he'd ever question her.

All he knew was the SUV was slowing down and so did he, coming to a full stop behind them. The metal gate was much closer now, and Eren could see it split down the center right in front of them; they must be at the opening. He heard an unfamiliar female voice call out…something about clearance?

Levi stuck his head and part of his upper body out of the passenger side door, turning to face wherever the guard was keeping watch. It was a little windy from the open fields and both the SUV and the bike running, but it sure sounded like Levi shouted back, "You don't need to see my fucking clearance."

Mikasa clasped one hand over her mouth trying not to laugh which only made Eren snort. Whatever Levi clearance Levi had here, his declaration worked well enough. The gate opened in front of them and the SUV started to drive through, Eren following into more open fields. He looked over at the woman and man who were now closing the gate behind them. They were dressed in military uniforms but that was all Eren could tell before he faced forward again, the buildings of the military base starting to rise in front of them.

They seemed be on the main road leading to the largest building in the area but Jean suddenly turned left, driving over a path that looked like it once was a lawn of some sort. Eren only saw the way the building was completely barricaded when they drove away from it. Most all the buildings were completely blocked off, sometimes whole areas impassable. Levi mentioned they couldn't save the whole base so Eren assumed this was the area that was over run. He didn't see any Biters around but he knew for a fact that meant absolutely nothing.

The car stopped and so did Eren, placing his feet on the ground to keep him and Mikasa steady on the bike. There was another gate, though this one smaller than the one at the first entrance. Levi didn't have to shout obscenities this time, the vehicles were simply let. The gate slammed shut behind Eren and he kept driving. This area was more open, probably being the section that was actually inhabited by people. There were vehicles lined up, boxes of supplies and weapons out, and there were people, both in uniform and out, wandering around.

Jean pulled the SUV off to the side to park near some of the military vehicles and some civilian cars. Eren did the same with the bike, pushing up the kickstand so he and Mikasa could get off. Levi was already out of the car and walking a head, Hanji trying to get him to wait for everyone. Jean, Armin, and Sasha came out from behind the SUV looking over to Eren and Mikasa before following after the two officers and into a large building.

It wasn't as big as that very first one but it was still fairly large. It figured no elevators worked so Eren had to follow everyone up a few flights of stairs before Levi and Hanji led them down a hall, one that had doors lining it like meeting rooms or offices or something. Eren really didn't have much of an idea, all he knew was it was quiet, too quiet to be once an active military base. Not even Sasha seemed like she had much to say, she just followed behind Armin, glancing behind her every few moments.

For some reason this place made him feel like they were trapped. In a way, he supposed they were. There were gates and armed guards; if these people didn't want Eren to leave, he wouldn't be able to leave. What if he just walked everyone into a trap?

"It's at least safe from outside danger. Stop worrying so much." Armin's hushed voice made Eren look over. Armin's face was a little concerned but he seemed to do a good job at hiding it for the most part.

"Do you and Mikasa always have to read my mind like that? It's a little freaky, you know."

Mikasa let out a laugh from the other side of him and a small pulled at Armin's lips.

"Your forehead was scrunched together, your shoulder tense, and you were staring dead ahead at the hallway. It was pretty easy to figure out what you were thinking," Armin said.

"If you brats are done," Levi grunted, making Eren realize both Levi and Hanji stopped in front of a door. "Erwin Smith is the commanding officer of this base so don't embarrass me or I'll feed you to the Biters myself."

"Kidding!"Hanji said, nudging Levi back a bit. "He's kidding. C'mon, there was word sent to Erwin when we got here so he's expecting us." She reached for the wooden door and pulled it open gesturing for them to go in first.

Eren took the first step, everyone else falling in behind him as he walked into the room that really didn't fit a man who was supposed to be the Commander or whatever he was. It was a tiny space, so small that Jean and Sasha had to squeeze in behind just so Hanji and Levi could get in there too and close the door behind them. The man who was standing behind the desk fit the role pefetcly though.

Erwin Smith stood at least a head and shoulders taller than Eren, Erwin's posture and face almost demanding respect. Eren almost couldn't control his back straightening up, his attention on the man in front of him just by being in Erwin's presence. There was obviously a reason this man was left in command.

"No need to look so stiff," Erwin chuckled a smile on his face that nothing short of warm and inviting. "You aren't my cadets, nothing to fear here."

"And they said people from comic books didn't exist," Sasha hushed but Jean elbowed her in the stomach.

Erwin chuckled and waved off Hanji and Levi's attempts to salute from their said of the room. "I'm glad to see you two made it back alive, and even happier you found refugees alive to be able to bring them back to safety but…" Erwin clasped his hands together before gesturing out to the room. "I was told you had important news to discuss with me."

"Well," Hanji said taking a step forward towards Erwin's desk. "We happened to come across these kids when we were scouting up at the hospital. Oh, sorry, Sir, this is Mikasa, Eren, and Armin, and then that's Sasha and Jean back there. They're from Shiganshina."

Ewrin arched his eyebrows up. "You've come a long way then. Any reason you're all the way out here?"

Eren wasn't sure if that was directed at them or Hanji but when all eyes settled on him he supposed he had to explain. He cleared his throat. "We were looking for my dad, uh, Sir. He was last seen at the hospital so we went there to see if he was still there."

"Did you find him there?"

"No, Sir," Eren said. "He already left by the time we managed to get there."

"But!"Hanji piped up in that excited tone of hers, probably about to release the details of just why they were here. "We did find something else. Eren here is immune to the virus."

He couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy at how simple it was, how easy it was to say. Was he right to let himself be offered up like this? What would these people do to him? To his friends?

"Immune? Hanji, are you sure?" Erwin was leaning closer now, his face more serious.

"Absolutely," she nodded, a sheepish smile on her her lips. "We kinda saw it in action so I ran some basic tests at the hospital to see what was going on. I think if we run some more I may be able to see if something in his blood can turn into a vaccine. I don't think it'll cure the turned but it may be preventative."

Erwin sat down in his chair, propping his elbow up on the armrest as he rubbed at his chin. He stared off into the distance in what Eren assumed was thought until Erwin's blue eyes met Eren's. "Are you okay with this, Eren? Are your friends okay with all of this? If what Hanji thinks is true you may be our best chance to win this but if you aren't comfortable we could find other options."

Eren blinked at the Commander. He was being given a choice in the matter? It seemed a little strange to be dragged all the way and then offered a way out but he couldn't say he didn't appreciate it. He felt all eyes on him once more, but Eren knew his answer. He decided back before they left the hospital; he only kept it to himself just in case he changed his mind. If he could help this world, then he would; for his sake and for the sake of his friends and family, and their friends and family and so on. He knew what he wanted.

"I'll do it, but under one condition."

"I don't think you're really in a position to bargain, kid," Levi said but Erwin held a hand up to the dark haired man.

"Let him say what he wants to say, Levi. Go on, Eren."

"Um…" He paused trying to find his voice. "There's a lab on the other side of the city with refugees in it. I'll go under tests but I want the refugees brought here for safety."

A small smile was on Erwin's lips. "Did you leave family behind?"

"My mom, and Armin's grandfather plus other people who escaped there. They were there a few days ago, can only hope they still are."

Erwin was quiet for a moment, but he nodded. "Consider it done. I'll send out word to send a caravan to the lab. Do you have the address?"

"I do," Armin said, holding up the map they used to drive out of Shiganshina; he must've grabbed it from the SUV. God, it felt like ten years ago when it was just Eren, Armin, and Mikasa in The Colonel's car.

"Wonderful," Erwin clasped his hands together as he stood up. "Arraignments will be made right away but you kids look exhausted. I can't even imagine what you've been through to get here. Hanji, Levi would you please show them to housing so they can eat and rest?"

Eren hesitated. Even after Annie, Berthldt and Reiner took off, no one said a word about the box that was stolen to Levi and Hanji. They still didn't know that Eren's father had something to do with this. Eren didn't even know if saying something would be smart, if letting people who were strangers in would do anything but ruin them again. Yet, what if he said nothing and everything went to hell again?

"There's one more thing," Eren said getting everyone's attention. "I think my dad had something to do with all this."

The room was quiet for a moment, save for Mikasa's hushed call of his name. He looked over to see her watching him with wide but compassionate eyes. She must've known it was hard but she didn't argue him for saying it. Maybe it was time to get it out in the open to someone who just maybe could help.

"We found out that I was immune when I got bit, and healed over the next day," Eren said, his voice coming out stronger. "My mom made it out like my dad knew this was gonna happen so we went to find him. In the mean time we found another lab, one I never heard of before but he, um, my dad, worked there, we found his office. The whole place was ransacked but we managed to find a key." His fingers unconsciously flickered to his chest where the key was hanging once more.

"It was there were found, um, people we thought were friends. I vaguely remembered one, her name's Annie, from when we were kids at the lab I previously didn't remember. She said her dad used to work there too, shortly after we were…we were ran out by Biters that weren't like other Biters. Titans we ended up calling them. All of us, um, Annie, Bertholdt and Reiner included made it to the hospital and we actually found a box of notes from my dad, but when we left the room and came back, them and the box were gone."

Erwin's face was unreadable. "Tell me about these 'Titans'."

Levi crossed his arms against his chest. "These kids tell us there's another strand of the virus, one that turns people into more monster than mindless. They said these bastards were bigger than a normal person with more strength, and seemingly could think coherently as opposed to just trying to bite everything in grabbing distance."

"That is distressing news." Erwin's face darkened as he looked over to where Eren was standing. "Is this true?"

Eren tried to say "yes", but when he opened his mouth nothing came out.

"Yes," Sasha said from behind him. Her voice wavered a little bit but it was strong, firm. "They hunted us and they killed for no other reason than just to kill. They operate differently; even head shots wouldn't kill them."

Eren felt Jean reach a hand up to Sasha's shoulder.

Erwin looked over to Hanji, maybe expecting her to have some kinda answer.

"From what I can tell, Sir," Hanji said, though she was a little distracted, probably from all the information Eren just gave them. "It does appear different strands of the virus are possible but since we haven't encountered them personally I can't say for sure."

"Then let's hope we never do," Erwin sighed, reaching a hand up to rub his forehead. He looked much wearier than he Eren's first impression. He turned back to face Eren and the others. "These kids who took the box, have any idea where they were going? Who they might be reporting to?"

Armin shook his head. "Maybe Annie's father? If he's still alive but it's impossible to say. They never really talked about themselves let alone if they had ties to someone who may want the information who wasn't Eren and his father." Armin paused for a moment, like he thought he was talking too much.

Eren nudged Armin so he'd keep going. Armin was rarely wrong and these people would need to know what was in that head of his.

"Considering they took the information and left without a word it only makes me assume whoever they're working with for is against whatever Dr. Jaeger was trying to do. It…" Armin hesitated again but this time with a glance at Eren. "It makes me wonder if they knew all along who Eren was, and who his father was. That they always had a goal of getting information and running."

Eren's stomach turned. He hadn't really thought of it like that. If they knew the whole time and knew…knew what they wanted and were just biding time until it was given to them.

Erwin sighed. "Well, all we can do is use the information given to us, and thanks to you kids we have some much more than we did before." He pushed that smile back on his lips. "Please, feel free to come to me if any of you need anything. I'm sure you saw on the way in a large portion of our base had to be evacuated and blocked off but we've remained strong and kept plenty of supplies. It's a nightmare out there; we'd like you to be comfortable here for however long you're here."

"Thank you, Sir," Armin said as Hanji opened the door, letting them know it was okay to leave.

"Hanji, I know you're excited, but let the boy rest. Start your tests in the morning," Erwin called after them as they started to head back out into the hall.

Hanji mumbled something as Eren walked by but he couldn't quite catch what it was with the way his head was buzzing. It was too much to relive, too much to comprehend. What if Annie, Bertholdt, and Reiner knew about the lab? What if they knew about the Titans and never said anything? What if they knew everything all along and were just waiting for them…waiting because Ymir was the one who sent Eren to Star Labs in the first place.

What if Eren was just playing into their hands the entire time?

"Eren?"Mikasa's voice was still soft, her eyes looking in that concerned way whenever she was worried about him. She was walking next to him now, Armin lingering in front behind Levi and Hanji, Jean and Sasha still in the back while they were led to whatever area they'd be staying in.

"It's okay," he said, trying to give her a smile but he must've failed cause she didn't seem any less concerned.

She looked away, her eyes facing forward once more. Eren doubt she actually believed him, not with all the things they had to bring up just to get these people to understand.

Maybe it was wrong for him to say all of that, maybe he was putting himself back in the very same situation, but at least these people had resources. Maybe these people could actually help. In the least, they were safe for now. They weren't on the streets, and they didn't need to sleep with one eye open. There had to be good points about this situation. Yet nothing seemed to get the unease out of the pit of his stomach, the overwhelming sense of doom.

Not even after being shown real food for the first time in what felt like years, even after being given an actual bed in an actual room, and even after Eren tried to sleep it off, nothing could rid the feeling that something was wrong.

He kicked his legs out from under the blankets, feet hitting the wooden floor. The room was dark as it was probably somewhere in the middle of the night. Armin's body was lumped up in the bed across from his, Sasha and Jean in the room right next to them. Eren glanced over to his bed, where Mikasa was curled up close to the wall. It was a comfort when she crawled into his bed without anyone ever asking, but even her soft, rhythmic breathing couldn't lure him back to sleep this time.

As quietly as he could, he slipped his shoes back on and pushed himself up to his feet, carefully walking to the door, and out into the hall. Eren knew there were guards around keeping watch just in case but if they were around, he never saw them as he walked the dimly lit hallway and to the stairwell he saw when they were coming in.

One by one, he walked up the spiraling steps, vaguely reminded of when he and Mikasa were trying to get out of the school, going down the steps back to back. He didn't stop until he reached the very top, a door stating "Rooftop" in front of him. He pushed the door open and was met with the warm air of the early summer night. He took a deep breath and let the door close behind him.

The stars were up high above his head, the moon shining down with no clouds blocking its view. Eren glanced around the rooftop to see if any guards were up on patrol but it was empty. He ran his hand through his hair and sat down, bringing his knees up to his chest and draping his arms over them.

He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised when he heard the door open behind him, quiet footsteps walking towards him. He didn't even have to look, and he had to smile despite himself. "Nothing ever passes you, does it?"

"Don't you know that by now?" Mikasa said, taking a seat next to him, her shoulder brushing against his.

Eren looked back up at the sky in front of them, the trees in the distance waving in the wind. Most all the base had the lights shut off, making the sky seem even brighter despite the late hour. He could see the stars better here than he could back home. He scanned the sky looking for any patterns he knew the names of, but his mom was always better at this than he was.

"The Little Dipper," Eren said, pointing up towards the sky. "Which means…" He looked around for the bigger version of the constellation. "There's the Big Dipper."

"Can you see Draco in between them?" Mikasa asked as she pointed where she must've been looking.

"No," Eren snorted. He really was never good at this but it was better than all the other things he had on his mind. It was better than the awkward, unsure air that was between him and Mikasa. This felt almost normal; aside from the fact they were sitting on top of a military base.

"Here." Mikasa reached over to grab his arm, and effectively making his breath hitch as she started to trace his hand against the sky. "There's the Little Dipper, next to it Draco curves and goes down under it and then up like this like the long curving dragon he was."

Eren still didn't see it, but that didn't surprise him too much. Mikasa always saw things where he didn't see anything.

"Hercules was the one who slayed him," Mikasa continued, pulling Eren's arm down some, his hand following along the sky. "Which is why Hercules depicted right down here."

"I think people were just bored back in the day and made up pictures in the sky."

Mikasa laughed softly as she let go of his arm. Silence settled over them once more as Eren kept his eyes up on the sky, on where she said Hercules was killing the dragon. Hercules was a demigod, a hero. He could kill a dragon fairly easily Eren assumed, well enough to get immortalized up in the sky at least. What had Eren ever done but lead his friends down the wrong paths?

"Mikasa?" he asked, his voice coming out much softer than he intended to.

"Yeah?"

"What if I'm leading everyone into a trap again?" He felt Mikasa turn her head to look at him but he kept staring up at the sky, the stars shining back at him. "What if these are just more people we can't trust, who're using us to get what they want because I don't know to stop giving people the information we know. What if all of this was for nothing?"

She was quiet for a moment, maybe thinking of what would be the right thing to say. "You've never led us into a trap before, Eren."

"Then what do you call Star Labs? What do you call trusting Annie and her friends? Those were all my ideas and look where they led us. Now we don't even know what kind of information they stole and who they're giving it to. Who knows where the hell my dad is or if he's even still alive. I sent us on this dumbass path and its done nothing but hurt us."

"You couldn't have known any of that would happen, none of us could," Mikasa said, her voice gentle, soothing but it didn't help all the things Eren kept inside.

"It doesn't fucking matter because it happened and it happened because of me. Whatever Annie or Ymir or whoever these people even are, they wanted me, they wanted my dad's work and now because of that we're stuck at some base with even more strangers who we have no idea what their intentions are." Eren reached up to run a hand through his hair. "We should've just stayed with my mom. We never should've left."

"Maybe," Mikasa said causing him to glance over at her. "Maybe you're right. If we were still with them at the lab there's a chance Connie would still be alive, that we never would've met Annie, that we never would've found the notes from your dad and never would've lost them."

Eren opened his mouth to tell her which is what he was trying to say but she gave him a look that made him close his mouth again.

"But then we never would've found out about the Titans, as horrible as it was at least we know they exist now. We never would've known your father was a part of this, we never would've made it to the hospital." Her voice cracked a little and she looked up at the sky away from him.

Even in the dim lighting, Eren saw the red tint to her cheeks.

"We never would have been able to gather the information we did, to know that your blood could hold a vaccine, to pass the information to people who could help." She looked back to him. "Whether they use our information for the good or bad that's up to them, but Eren, you've been trying this whole time to help, to protect us. You led us here, somewhere we're safe. Regardless of what these people want, we're safe."

She paused, reaching up to brush some of his hair out of his face. "Trusting too many people isn't a bad thing. Sure, sometimes you end up hurt but if you never trust anyone then we'd never have the chance to help people and I know that's all you wanna do. You never would've agreed to this if it wasn't for the fact you want to help create a vaccination."

"I wanna protect you." The words fell out of his mouth before he even had a chance to think about them.

That warm smile he loved to see pulled at her lips. "I know. You always do."

All the things he wanted to say to her flooded his head; how much she meant to him, how much his life changed for the better the day he met her, that she was the most beautiful person he knew, that her strength gave him strength even when he didn't feel like he could even take a step forward, how much she made him smile, how much she made him happy, that he couldn't imagine his life without her. Even now, even when she was sitting right in front of him waiting for him to say something he still couldn't explain just how much he cared for her.

"You," he breathed. "You're the most important person to me, you know that don't you? I...I care about you more than I knew I could care about someone."

Mikasa's eyes went wide for a moment, like she wasn't expecting that. Well, Eren knew he did a shitty job at showing how much he always cared for her.

"After everything we've been through, everything that, uh, happened between us I just…wanted you to know."

She glanced down at the ground, and even though his heart felt like it was gonna pound out of his chest waiting for to say something he felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. No matter what happened now, she knew.

"Eren?"

"Yeah?" he answered.

"I have a confession to make." Her cheeks were a little red, her eyes a little hesitant.

"What is it?"

"I've had a crush on you since the third grade."

He couldn't help it, he laughed. The thought of Mikasa was she was that young, looking at him with wide adoring eyes. It was pretty adorable. He also felt like the world's biggest idiot for never noticing before.

"Shut up," she mumbled, nudging him with her shoulder. "I just never thought you'd feel the same way about me."

He reached over to her, placing his hands on either side of her face and leaned in until his lips were pressed against hers. Almost all the unease that had been following him around all day vanished when he felt her kiss him back. Despite the situations they were stuck in, the hell they walked through, nothing felt more right than sitting the roof of some building with her, with Mikasa.

He pulled away just enough to see her glistening eyes flutter open. "I'd be stupid not to."

"Well," she said as a smile crept across her lips.

"Aren't you full of laughs tonight." Eren ran his hands down to her waist, pulling her up into his lap.

She did laugh that time and he couldn't have held his own smile back even if he tried. He tilted his face in to kiss her again, her soft lips moving with his.

It was different than in the hospital. He was scared then, desperate, afraid of all the things that could've gone wrong, afraid of losing her. The relief that she was still with him was so overwhelming he could barely comprehend what he was feeling. This though, this he knew how he felt about her, how she felt about him. It was softer, almost quieter, but he felt that same desire to be close to her building up in the pit of his stomach as he kissed her, as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Her fingers curled into his shirt, tugging at him and leaning backwards just a bit. He got the message pretty clearly. Eren gently laid her back against the roof, pressing his arms under hers to balance himself as he leaned up against her. She reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, to pull him close and deepen their kiss. He nearly groaned in her mouth when he let his knees give out a little bit, resting more of his weight on hers.

Even though it had been at least two days since Eren found her again only one thing was still ringing through his mind. She was here. She was still here with him. No matter what he was, no matter what was injected in him, no matter where he led them, she was still here. There was still so much more he wanted to tell her, so many words he was still leaving unsaid to tell her just how much she was his whole world but he couldn't bring himself to say it. Not yet.

She ran her fingers up through his hair, sending chills down his spine. Eren trailed kisses across her face, her jaw and down her neck; her scarf rubbing against his chin. Her back arched up into him and his fingers pressed into her waist.

They may've been through some nightmarish things, some shitty choices on his part, but how could he be upset with what happened when through all of this time it led him right to her. This right now, this was more than okay for him.


End file.
